Portugal has seen an increasing trend in the average value of mortgage applications in the country as per the report from the National Institute of Statistics or INE released on Monday.
According to The Portugal News Online, the average value of mortgage applications at the end of 2015 was at €1,050 per square meter, a 0.7 percent increase from that of November and a 4.5 percent increase compared to the same period in 2014. INE reported that Portugal saw a 2.6 percent rise in 2015 from the 2014 level, with an average mortgage evaluation of €1,034.
According to the report, the increase in December from the previous month can be largely attributed to the 0.8 percent rise in North and 0.4 percent rise in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon. Meanwhile, based on the type of properties, apartment applications climbed by 0.6 percent month-to-month in majority of the regions, and by 5 percent from 2014's average value across the country. On one hand, the Centre saw a fall of 0.8 percent, Alentejo by 0.1 percent, and Azores by 2.1 percent.
Elsewhere in Portugal's property mortgage market, the promised residency visas for foreign investors who bought residential properties in the country have remained in uncertain condition. According to a report from Skift, the countries "Golden Visa" program has already been seeing backlogs, resulting to a slow granting of the promised resident permits to around 4,000 foreign investors.
Real Estate Professionals and Brokers Association has revealed that only two visa applications per day are being processed, and with this pace, it can take five years or more to catch up. That is too long compared to the 90 days that the applicants were promised after they submitted all the necessary documents. The Golden Visa program was introduced in the country during the financial crisis in a bid to boost Portugal's property market.