Please find below a selection of news and opinion articles relating to the mortgage, property and economic markets of Portugal, from December 2008

Buyers Head To Northern Portugal
The property market in the north of Portugal is buoyant at the moment with several upmarket developments attracting buyers.


The north of Portugal is attracting both international and Portuguese buyers at the moment with a number of upmarket developments currently under construction in the region.

One of these is the Norte Golfe Group's Vale Pisão Valley Nature Resort, where the first phase of 115 homes is almost completely sold.

The second phase of the development will see a further 105 homes built with prices going up to €660,000.

Situated just a 10-minute drive from Porto in Santo Tirso, the €100m development also has a golf course, swimming pools, a hotel, spa and shopping area.

According to reports on www.myportugalproperty.com luxury homes have been springing up all around the Greater Porto area and the outskirts.

In Vila Nova de Famalição, Famiscasa has created Domus Calle, a luxury condominium of 30 apartments and following the success of the Parque Marechal development of a dozen houses costing more than a million Euros each there now follows the Essenza luxury development, also in Invicta.

In Gaia, the British Fladgate Partnership is to invest €100m in a residential project. The houses are to be built in the Croft wine cellars region but will preserve the main architectural features of the building.

Meanwhile a development of apartments and terraced houses with integrated swimming pools by Rei Ramiro Terraces involves the redevelopment of the old monastery and royal palace on the river next to Cais de Gaia Quay. It is expected to be completed later this year.

Far from the bustle of city life and a 60-minute drive from Porto, several developments are also taking place in the Douro region which guarantee quality of life and sheer relaxation.

Many have breathtaking views of the river and the vineyards beyond. As well as boasting a hotel, the Aquapura Douro Valle development has 21 properties for sale and business is brisk, with villas being snapped up by the international market.

Property sizes vary and prices start at €540,000. They are being marketed within a buy-to-let scheme that guarantees the owner an annual income of six per cent and then between four and five per cent. The owners can also take advantage of a two-weel stay in any three of the Aquapura brand units abroad, in Brazil, Prague and Budapest.

November – Portugal comes to grips with economic crisis
10/1/2009

The word ‘recession’ for so long taboo among the world’s media, finally took hold in November as major European countries, along with Japan and United States, learnt they were in, or heading for, recession. In Portugal, the situation was not as clear, as economic indicators were, for the large part, ambiguous.



Sentiment in Portugal has been sombre in recent weeks, with the expectation that recession is facing the country. But figures posted in November, not only from the Government, but also from the respected International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested that the country’s economy will grow, at least in the coming 12 months, allowing analysts to hope that this will perhaps give Portugal enough of a window to avoid negative growth in its economy in the foreseeable future.

The most recent figures available on the forecasted growth of the Portuguese economy have indicated that the country could escape a recession next year.

The IMF, while slashing its growth forecast for Portugal down to 0.1 percent, estimated recession could be avoided in 2009, largely assisted by the fact the Euro Zone is also expected to grow next year, despite widespread turmoil in international markets.

Leading players in Portugal, such as the chairman of the Association of Portuguese Banks, is optimistic, despite this cut in growth forecasts.

“There are much worse cases”, said João Salgueiro, adding, “Nobody should be happy that we are not growing, but that is at least better than negative growth.”

More relatively positive news came a week later as analysts started forecasting interest rates in the Eurozone to fall to as low as two percent or lower in 2009, in the wake of the European Central Bank announcing a cut in the indicator for the marginal lending facility by 50 basis points. The move was almost a necessity, as with the US Fed having lowered its rate to one percent while the Bank of England shocked analysts by wiping 1.5% off its previous benchmark figure of 4.5%.

With rates in the U.S. at an all time low, coupled with the Bank of England’s dramatic and unprecedented slash of 1.5 basis points in its rate, the move announced on Thursday afternoon by the ECB was widely anticipated by market analysts.

In the middle of the month, Portugal’s excellent environmental record was noted and The Portugal News explained how the country was hoping to draw environmentally friendly tourists to the country by assuring them that their carbon footprint they leave behind will be as minimal as anywhere else in the world.

In the past month, a number of international travel websites have unveiled Portugal as “a world leader in environmental action,” with local authorities now keen to build on the country’s increasingly ‘greener’ reputation.

Following a poll by British Travel Association ABTA which found that 83 percent of people consider it important their holiday does not damage the environment, authorities in Portugal have been swift to find ways of gaining a return on the billions of euros the country has spent in recent years on renewable energies.

With more than half of those polled by ABTA adding they would seek more information on their destination’s environmental credentials before booking their trip, tourism officials here are keen to promote one of the country’s major strengths.

Visitors from Britain now constitute one in five tourists to Portugal.

“With 220 days of sunshine a year and 800 kilometres of coastline, Portugal boasts some excellent advantages for the development of renewable energies,” Vice President of Turismo de Portugal, Dr Frederico Costa was quoted as saying by Travel Daily News International.

“With holidaymakers becoming increasingly concerned about their environmental footprint, Portugal is an excellent destination for those looking for a ‘greener’ holiday option,” he added.

Recession talk returned to front pages, though it had a positive feel given that while the Eurozone and other major economies are all in or on the verge of technical recessions, latest facts and figures compiled in Portugal indicate that the country will converge with major European economies and end the year having somehow avoided slumping into a recession.

Portugal’s economy slumped in the third quarter of the year but should escape recession this year, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported in its latest bulletin. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expansion in the third quarter was zero percent compared to the second quarter, meaning Portugal should escape recession this year, the INE said in its provisional report.

This was followed by the OECD (Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development) whose members include the world’s most influential and wealthy countries stating that Portugal would be among the Western European countries whose economy will least suffer from the looming 2009 recession. While the once booming economies of nations such as Spain and Ireland were expected to contract by 0.9 percent and 1.1 percent respectively in the coming 12 months, the Portuguese economy will experience a downturn in economic growth of only 0.2 percent next year before seeing its economy expand by 0.6 percent in 2010.


Bank of Portugal sees economy contracting in 2009
01.06.09, 11:54 AM EST

LISBON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Portugal's economy will contract by 0.8 percent this year after growth of 0.3 percent in 2008, the Bank of Portugal forecast on Tuesday in its winter economic bulletin.

The forecast was the first by an official institution in the Iberian country to predict the country would enter into recession due to the global economic crisis. The Bank of Portugal's last forecast, in July, was for growth of 1.3 percent this year.

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Yahoo! BuzzIt said gross domestic product will only recover gradually, eeking out growth of 0.3 percent in 2010.

The Bank of Portugal forecast inflation would be sharply lower, at 1.0 percent in 2009, down from 2.7 percent in 2008. In 2010 it sees inflation rising to 2.0 percent.

Portugal's economy has been holding up relatively well since the global credit crunch started last year but the export-dependent economy is suffering from sharp slowdowns in key export markets such as Spain and Germany.