Portugal’s golden visa: the light at the end of the tunnel for Hongkongers

Lisbon property agents travel to the troubled city to pitch to prospective investors, as property demands from Hongkongers grow

The Portuguese property market views Hong Kong investors as their main source of foreign investments as more seek a safe haven from the violent political protests, reported South China Morning Post.

The growing demand has encouraged property agents from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon to travel to Hong Kong to meet potential clients, hoping to make a sale. They said that about half of the investors are looking to get permanent residency under the golden visa programme.

Director at Lisbon-based Maia International Luiz Felipe Maia said, “I believe the current protests have created a strong interest in property markets in Europe.”

“I also work with properties in Spain, France, and London, however, the focus for foreign investors is Portugal where yields for rental run between four and seven percent.”

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At the end of this month, Maia International have scheduled a six-day meeting with clients, while Castelhana Real Estate already conducted a three-day seminar and met with 90 prospective investors last September.

“We expect Hong Kong to rank among the top five sources of foreign capital in Portuguese real estate,” said Patricia Climaco, a partner at Castelhana.

Meanwhile, Maia predicts Hongkongers to be in the “top seven” foreign investors, stating that mainland Chinese buyers have been targeting Portugal for a few years now.

“I don’t think they will beat the Brazilians, French, English, and mainland Chinese buyers,” he clarified.

He did, however, receive “25 inquiries in the last two months,” which is why he extended his meeting from two to six days to accommodate all the meetings and will be willing to stay longer if need be.