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Infinito Real welcomes reports that Portugal is "on track"

Thursday, May 10, 2012

A recent report stated that The European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund said that Portugal was on track and might be able to stop relying on emergency support by next year. Stephen Anderson, Managing Director of Portugal based estate agent Infinito Real, says that this is great news considering all the negative press surrounding a possible second bail-out for the country, and a reflection of additional signs of an improved economy.

"This is not the only positive indication of development for Portugal in general and also the property market. The banks have started to play their part and we now have a number of them offering a much higher than normal Loan To Value on their own repossessed properties, even going up to 100% of the purchase price with spreads of 2% for non residents. All costs associated to the mortgage deal have now also been reduced with all the valuations and many of the property checks having already been completed."

In addition to this good news, even this early in the year, there have been visible signs of an uplift in tourism and it has been reported that the biggest growth has been seen in the Algarve.

Stephen comments: "In the last few months we have seen a lot of welcomed publicity for the Algarve ranging from the award winning Marina of Vilamoura to Portugal being named the best place to surf in the world. As well as this, Portugal was reported to be the cheapest place in Europe to eat out. All this coupled with low-priced flights and additional route paths into the country from throughout Europe have been wonderful boosts to the area."

The next few of months will establish if all of this will bring additional interest from overseas, but Stephen says that now would be a good time to buy for anyone looking for potential investment opportunities as the lower house prices, a result of the economic downturn, are offering strong rental returns. "On average, rental yields achieved currently are around the 5% mark. In regards to high demand properties such as a beach front villa this has been reaching double figures. A stronger exchange rate versus a year ago also means that prices are even more affordable with a 20% gain to be had on sterling to euros."

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