HalloCasa: “This time, we talked to Antonio Barbosa, from Portugal. Tony is originally from the US and has lived in Portugal for 20 years and has executed his profession of real estate for over 20 years. He helps both domestic and foreign investors to buy real estate in Portugal. Antonio, why don’t you introduce yourself to our audience?”

Antonio Barbosa: “Michael, thank you. Thank you for having me here. I was born in Angola and moved to the United States early on, where I got my degree in Business Administration and then lived there for almost 30 years. During the last 20 years, I’ve been living in Portugal and I have dedicated the last 20 years to my passion of real estate.”

HalloCasa: “From Angola via the US to Portugal, great! What is the real estate market in Portugal right now? What is going on also with respect to COVID? And obviously, also, with respect to the Golden Visa?”

Antonio Barbosa: “Sure, last year, the market has been very different from previous years. Myself and most colleagues of mine have been doing very well with the domestic market during the past year. This is important to mention because Portugal is a service oriented industry which means we are very dependent on tourism and external investment. However, this year was mainly driven by first-time domestic homebuyers, wanting to have their own home. Apart from low interest rates, there are many factors that contributed to that growth market domestically. Foreign investment purchases, on the other hand, have dropped by around 40%, especially in Lisbon, since this is mainly a premium area and there’s nobody coming in to visit those properties currently.”