Rich Chinese among foreigners snapping up homes in Portugal
Graft scandal failsto deter rich Chinesein search of bargain homes and residency
Portugal's property market continues to expand at double digit rates thanks to foreign buyers, including China's new rich, despite a graft scandal over visas used to lure in rich non-Europeans.
More than one in five residences sold in Portugal last year was bought by a foreigner, according to data by the Portuguese Real Estate Agents Association.
Britons were in top place among the 23,000 buyers, followed by Chinese and French.
"The property market grew by between 9 and 15 per cent in 2014," said the head of the association, Luis Lima. "If it hadn't been for the Banco Espirito Santo debacle and the golden visas scandal it would have been 25 per cent."
The collapse of BES amid suspicions of multinational accounting fraud and the visa scandal that saw senior officials resign raised concerns about the integrity of the market. But Portugal's warm climate, low property prices and tax breaks for European retirees continued to pull in many buyers.
"We've seen a small drop in demand from the Chinese since the visa scandal in November, but the number of French moving into Portugal has exploded," said Miguel Poisson, director of the ERA real estate agency network in Portugal.