Lisbon and Singapore are the cities most pressured by foreigners, who have chosen these locations to live and have pushed up rents for top properties in central locations
Lisbon is the city, in a sample of 30 locations around the world, that most feels the pressure of foreigners in the growth of the value of the rents of houses in central locations.
Prime rents in Lisbon grew by 13.9% between December 2022 and June 2023, at a time when more and more foreigners are moving to the Portuguese capital to live – whether for a few months or for long periods of time. The second highest increase was recorded in Singapore, at 13.6%.
The increase is even greater if we compare it with June 2022. The data provided to Expresso by Savills Portugal indicate a year-on-year growth of 32.7%. And this is the largest variation among the 30 cities analyzed by Savills, followed by Singapore’s 32.3% growth, Dubai’s 23% and Berlin’s 12.7%.
Lisbon has experienced a large influx of foreigners to the capital, having been placed several times among the best cities for digital nomads, but also due to the gold visa program.
The rise in rents in Lisbon – and, in general, in Portugal – was one of the reasons that led the Government to launch the Mais Habitação program, which was approved on Wednesday and which went to Belém to be promulgated by the President of the Republic. From renting to subletting, to penalizing local accommodation, there are several measures that aim to curb rising prices and provide more affordable housing for the population.
Rental growth in Lisbon was similar to that of Singapore (13.6% since December and 32.3% year-on-year). But these two cities recorded much higher rent increases than the other 28 cities included in the Prime Residential World Cities Index.
The city that ranks third in six-month rental growth is Berlin (9.2%), followed by Dubai (5.4%). In annual growth, positions are reversed, with rents in Dubai growing 23% and in Berlin 12.7%.
On the other hand, in Miami, Seoul, San Francisco and Shenzhen rents have fallen since December. In the latter two there was even a retreat in rents compared to June 2022.
In Madrid, for example, rents rose 5.8% year-on-year and 2.9% compared with December 2022. In London they advanced by 5.7% and 1.9% respectively.
https://www.portugalpulse.com/important-final-update-on-golden-visa-program-amendments-2023/