Data released today by the national statistics institute (INE) reveal that, last year, 8.2% of properties traded in Portugal were sold to non-residents, corresponding to 13.0% of the total value, which compares with 7.7% and 11.5%, respectively, in 2017.

Despite the "significant growth" recorded in 2018 in sales of real estate to non-residents - 14.5% in number and 22.2% in value - INE notes that this was lower than in 2017, when the increase was 19.2% in number and 22.6% in value.

The average value of buildings sold to non-residents was €171,178, 58% more than the average value of overall transactions (€108,016), with this relative difference increasing compared to 2017, when it had been 49%.

More than one third of the value of acquisitions of non-residents corresponded to real estate with a unit value equal to or greater than €500,000, with the INE highlighting the "high median value" (€297.200) of real estate sold to residents in China, which was "almost six times higher than the market as a whole (€53,000)".

The institute also notes "the high values achieved in purchases made by residents from Brazil, the United Kingdom and the USA".

As in 2017, French residents acquired the most properties in Portugal (19.7% of the total value), followed by residents from the United Kingdom (16.9%), Brazil (8.3%), China (5.1%) and Germany (4.9%).

More than three-quarters of the value of acquisitions by non-residents are concentrated in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (39.5%) and the Algarve (35.9%).