Results RE/MAX 1st semester 2018

RE/MAX closed the first semester of this year with a volume of transactions of 2,000 million Euros, which corresponds to 60.6% of the total moved of last year.
In a press release, RE/MAX says that between January and June it transacted 29,882 buildings, "the value generated being 27.6% higher than the amount moved in same period of the previous year" of 2017, when the RE/MAX network sold 1,600 million Euros.
"In a year in which it is expected the real estate sector in Portugal to continue to beat records, it is mostly the Portuguese who are buying or renting property", said the President of the network, mentioning that Portuguese investors were responsible for 84.2% of RE/MAX’s transactions.
Brazilian investors came second, with 3.5%, followed by the French (2.7%), Chinese (1.4%) and British (1%).
RE/MAX "believes that a new factor will help to drive the real estate market, above all among Portuguese investors", or rather, the fact that as of today the banks are obliged "to reflect the negative values of the Euribor on housing loan contracts".
"RE/MAX’s results in the first semester of this year confirm the good period that the Portuguese economy is going through and which is reflected in diverse sectors, among which is real estate. In fact, as the Bank of Portugal’s financial stability report already mentioned, in a context of generalised improvement of the levels of confidence and prospects regarding the future evolution of property prices and more favourable financing conditions, there has been an increase in demand for housing by Portuguese families, and also an increase in demand for housing by non-residents, in a context of strong growth in residential tourism", the president of RE/MAX Portugal added.

Economic and monetary summary

In June, the indicator of consumer confidence and the indicator of economic sentiment went down in the Euro Area. In the same month, month-on-month change in the price of raw materials and oil was -2.9% and -2.2%, respectively (1.6% and 10.9% in May).
In Portugal, the indicator of activity economic, available up to May, dropped and the economic climate indicator, available to June, rose. (source: INE)

Indebtedness of the economy reaches its highest level in May

The total indebtedness of the State, companies and Portuguese families exceeded 724 thousand million Euros in the month of May, the highest value ever.
In this month, the indebtedness of the non-financial sector was 724.7 thousand million Euros, of which 322.4 thousand million was from the public sector and 402.3 thousand million from the private sector.

Housing loans: Balance increases for the first time since 2010, consumer loans cause concern

Never was so much consumer credit granted in just one month. In May, the banks and financial firms loaned 667 million Euros, an all-time high, according to the data of the Bank of Portugal, which brought the accumulated value from the start of the year to more than three thousand million Euros. Car loans contributed to the increase registered in May, also reaching a new all-time high.
According to the statistics of the entity led by Carlos Costa, in May the Portuguese got 667.2 million Euros from the Portuguese financial system. This amount corresponds to an increase of 16.3% over the same month of the previous year, and is also the highest in the historic data made available by the Bank of Portugal which started in January 2013.
Car purchase loans grew 14.8% compared with the same period of the previous year to 288.8 million Euros, an amount never before witnessed in the Bank of Portugal’s historical data. It should be pointed out that this movement may have been fed by the race to purchase cars before the Vehicle Tax (ISV) goes up from September.

IMF gives advice to Member States

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reveals that more agitated economic times are ahead. The recovery of the Euro Zone has already peaked and the single currency bloc is facing “particularly serious” risks. The GDP of the Euro should grow by 2.2% this year, revised down in view from April’s projection. For 2019, the Fund expects growth in GDP of 1.9%. If these forecasts are confirmed, 2017 will have been the year that the recovery peaked, with the economic group of the Euro Zone growing by 2.4%.
Recommendations? The Fund points out a number of recommendations for various member states, among them Portugal:
    • Energy costs need to come down
    • In terms of labour, open-ended contracts need to become more flexible
    • The state of justice needs to be studied
    • The quality of public services needs to be improved
    • Reforms that were started but are not ongoing need to be reviewed

Largest national banks confirm departure from the old part of the city

We recall that, in 2017, Novo Banco sold a number of buildings in the Marquês de Pombal for 60 million Euros. In recent weeks, the sale of a number of buildings in the Rua do Ouro was announced: by BPI (€ 66 M - 11,000 m2) and by BCP (8,900 m2) to the Sana hotel chain. This was followed by the announcement, by CGD, of it’s intent to put up for sale a building, also in Rua do Ouro, with 10,000m2 plus a basement area of 4,000 m2 for 60 M€.
Also for sale, by the CGD, is a site of 1264 m2, near its head office, which may lead to a residential project of 7,000 m2.

Large investors attack in the Summer

At the end of June, Teixeira Duarte announced the sale of Lagoas Park to an Investment Fund created in 2013 by Kildare Partners. This fund, with € 2 billion in assets, invest mainly in the United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, Italy and Portugal.

Changes to the regime of licensing of short therm rentals approved

Containment areas
The Town Hall can approve, the existence of containment areas, by parish, for the installation of new accommodation. The containment areas should be reassessed, at least, every two years, “the same owner can only run a maximum of seven local accommodation establishments”, a criterion that only applies to establishments that are installed after the law comes into force.
Until the municipal regulations come into force, a Town Hall can “suspend the authorization of new registrations in specifically delimited areas for a maximum of one year”.

Registration and cessation of the establishments
Local accommodation establishments are registered by the “mere prior notification sent to the territorially competent Mayor”, which is obligatory.
In the case of ‘hostels’, the prior communication obligatorily has to be accompanied by the “minutes of the Meeting of Co-owners authorising the installation”.
“The prior communication may be contested if, in a period of 10 days from its presentation or in a period of 20 days in the case of ‘hostels’.
The Town Hall has to conduct a property survey, in the period of 30 days after presentation of the mere prior communication.
In relation to the cessation was caused by of activity, the owner has to cancel the registration of the establishment.
If the cessation with the opposition from the Meeting of Co-owners, the law stipulates that the building in question is unable “to be run as local accommodation, regardless of the respective entity, for a period set in the decision, with a maximum of one year”.

Power of the Meeting of Co-owners
The installation and running of ‘hostels’ in buildings in horizontal property cannot occur in buildings in which there coexists habitation without authorization of the co-owners for the purpose, and the respective resolution should be communicated beforehand.
The Meeting of Co-owners, by a decision of more than half of the percentage of the building, in a substantiated resolution arising from reiterated and proven acts that disrupt the normal use of the building, and also cause discomfort and affect the rest of the owners, can object to the exercise of the activity”.
The decision of the Meeting of Co-owners has to be communicated to the territorially competent Mayor, who has to decide on the request to cancel the registration of the local accommodation establishment.
The condominium can establish the payment of an additional contribution, with a limit of 30% of the annual value of the respective quota.
 
Obligations of the establishments
The local accommodation is obliged to have an Information Handbook on the operation of the establishment, namely on the collection of waste and the care to take to avoid disruptions that affect the other neighbours, which should be made available in Portuguese and English and, at least, in two more foreign languages.
The establishments should obligatorily have third party liability insurance, and the lack of a valid insurance is grounds for cancellation of the registration of local accommodation.

Supervision and offences
The diploma increases the maximum value of the fines, namely in cases of someone offering unregistered local accommodation establishments or with an out-of-date registration, the infringement of the obligation to update all the data in the Balcão Único Eletrónico (which is an Online One-stop Clearinghouse), and non-compliance of the maximum capacity of the establishments.
In these situations, offences will be punished with fines from 2,500 to 4,000 Euros, in the case of a natural person, and from 25,000 to 40,000 Euros, in the case of legal persons,
The fines for offences like not putting a sign on the outside of the establishment and due to a lack of publication of the period of operation of the local accommodation establishment remain at 50 to 750 Euros for natural persons, and from 250 to 7,500 Euros, in the case of legal persons.

Buildings of the Social Security converted to create 250 affordable homes

In the memorandum signed in this Monday, Lisbon City Hall committed to convert 11 buildings of the Social Security and to create 250 affordable apartments and a residence for students.
The buildings in question are located in the parish of Alvalade (6), in Areeiro (1), in the Avenidas Novas (1), in the parish of Santo António (1) and in Arroios (1). Two buildings close to the Universidade Técnica / Alameda will be converted into a students’ residence.
It should be recalled that the Social Security will concentrate most of the services spread over various buildings into the former head office of the BNU in Av. Berna/ Av 5 October.

NEWS

Siimgroup on a Business Mission in Belo Horizonte

Between 9 and 12 July, Siimgroup held a business mission in Belo Horizon, the 3rd largest city in Brazil.

Over these days, Brazilians who are looking to invest in Portugal were presented with the advantages of investing in the real estate sector in our country. Meetings were held with local real estate brokers, who are traditionally much closer to candidates for this type of investment.

This business mission was an excellent opportunity to promote the buildings in Siimgroup’s portfolio.