The municipality of Loulé in the Algarve has recorded the largest number of real estate transactions in the country over the first half of 2014, according to data from the research department of the Association of Professional Real Estate Companies of Portugal (APEMIP).
During the first six months of 2014, about 47,000 properties were sold in Portugal.
The second quarter figure of 23,900 transactions represents an annualised increase of 3%.
APEMIP reported that the highest number of successful transactions were in the popular Loulé area, "The main driver for the recovery of Portuguese real estate market has been foreign investment, stimulated by programmes such as the Golden Visa sacheme and the fiscal regime for those not ordinarily resident, both of which affected positively the internal market," said the president of APEMIP, Luís Lima.
To Lima, these overall first quarter figures show the "recovery of the real estate sector."
"The number of transactions now has increased for four consecutive quarters, which means that the calendar year to June 30th 2014 is the year of confirmation that the housing sector has recovered."
