by FSBO 
A number of cash rich overseas investors from China are buying properties In Portugal. The European nation is hugely popular with Chinese nationals for many reasons, which we shall talk about in this article. What you should know is this presents a great opportunity for you if you’re looking to sell overseas property in Portugal fast.
Portugal is popular with Chinese nationals because it serves as a gateway to Europe, Africa and South America, where many rich Chinese nationals have extensive business interests. Portugal also has a golden visa scheme which promises residency rights to Chinese investors should they invest up to 500,000 EUR here, which is very attractive indeed.
Many Chinese are eager to acquire a Portuguese passport and look forward to spending at least a part of the year here. Indeed, it’s not just about the Chinese, the Portuguese real estate market is extremely popular with overseas property hunters, no matter where they are from in the world.
In fact, 20 percent of the properties sold in Portugal during the last 12 months were bought by overseas investors. Tens of thousands of Britons have taken advantage of the favourable conditions to buy properties in Portugal.
For many Chinese, Portugal is attractive because of its stable political system, prosperous economy, first-world infrastructure, improving housing market and favourable exchange rates. Chinese love the fact that Portuguese are among the friendliest people on the planet and that foreigners face no discrimination whatsoever in Portugal, which is a very diverse country, where people are very tolerant of differences in culture.
Chinese constitute 13% of the foreign buyers who have invested in Portugal. French are the biggest buyers of properties in Portugal, and account for 26% of all purchases made by foreign nationals. Britons come second at 18%.
Portugal offers an excellent alternative to retired pensioners from France, who love the fact that taxes here are much lower than back home. So they get to drawn a pension from France while enjoying a better quality of life in Portugal.
Among Chinese investors, Porto and the Algarve remain the most popular locations in Portugal. Many cash-rich overseas investors have flocked to these parts not just because they are some of the most beautiful regions in the world, but also because the amenities that are available here are world-class.
Indeed, the Portuguese government expects there to be a 40% increase in foreign interest in regions such as the Algarve and Porto.
Tariq El-Asad, who is a managing director at the real estate consultancy Tamea International, expects to see a massive increase in interest from China during the Chinese holiday season. He says, “During the Chinese New Year and the Labour Day holiday we see a huge increase in Chinese clients… It’s peak time. We get Chinese clients throughout the year. Usually, they come in big groups with their families and friends during holiday seasons, and want to invest together.”
Mr. El-Asad adds that Chinese investors generally bought two one-bedroom flats from their company, for €300,000 and €350,000 each in Lisbon, which would qualify them for the Golden Visa scheme.
“[Developers] promote the apartments to tourists … So a Chinese buyer can buy a property, apply for their golden visa and get a guaranteed rental of four or five per cent for five or sometimes up to ten years from the developer and the developer also gives one or two weeks of personal use a year,” Mr. El-Asad said.
The Golden Visa continues to be very popular. So far, Chinese buyers have accounted for 80 percent of the 3165 Golden Visas issued by Portugal, and have invested €1.92 billion in the country. If you need to sell overseas property fast in Portugal contact us today.
