The Real Estate Tech in Portugal is just unfolding, with scores of foreign buyers, the property prices and demand for Real Estate services has strengthened, all this is pentup demand for PropTech players.
In Southwestern Europe, located on the Iberian Peninsula is the stunning city of Portugal. This developed country has a high-income economy and is known to have a high standard of living, compared to international standards. Interestingly, it is also known to be the 3rd most peaceful country in the world. The largest, as well as the capital city of Portugal, is Lisbon, a global city that attracts international interest. Most industries, businesses and financial institutions are concentrated in the Lisbon and Porto metropolitan areas. The ideal Portugal experience consists of a variety of different settings: Medieval castles, cobblestone villages, captivating cities and golden beaches. The history and food of here is sure to keep anyone intrigued.
The modern global economy of Portugal is a system that is focussed on the high-tech sector, private investment, and exports. Real estate is not essentially a high contributing product to the GDP despite being a rich class asset. Portugal still claims the position of the world?s largest producer of cork, but business services have slowly been taking over traditional industries. Settling of these high tech industries in Portugal has definitely added to the growth of real estate market of here.
In May 2013, the OECD has listed Portugal as one of the top countries in the world to buy and own real estate. They also stated that the Portuguese real estate is undervalued and the price-to-rent ratio makes Portugal arguably the most attractive property market in continental Europe.
The ?Golden Visa? program, launched in 2012, has made Portugal even more lucrative for foreign investors and developers. The scheme grants residency to anyone who spends at least ?500,000 on the property. This interest from foreign investors has helped boost property prices in Portugal. The average sale prices in Lisbon went up by 16% just in 2014-2017, according to Savills. Despite these gains, homes in the city remain a very affordable ?1,350 per sq meter. This opens doors for real estate tech in Portugal and for PropTech to develop here.
Entrepreneurship ecosystem in Portugal
Post the last financial crisis, Portugal was one of the worst hit countries in Europe. But using their small size to advantage, Portugal bounced back hard and fast. Intelligently using entrepreneurship as its power tool, they set out to create their own future. Today the unemployment rate has fallen from 17 percent in 2012 to 12 percent. Combined with regulatory methods of the government, entrepreneurship has been able to considerably change Portugal. EU?s Committee of Regions bestowed the city with its ?European Entrepreneurial Region of the Year? honor for 2015.
There are multiple factors that contribute to the growth of startups here, many of which are in old buildings with beautifully tiled walls in the cobblestoned streets of downtown Lisboa. Other than the facts that quality of life is high and there is an educated skilled working class available in Portugal, it also matters that living costs, as well as salaries here, are low. As the country is small, Portuguese startups launch with an international vision in mind, making them ever so scalable and global. The Municipality of Lisbon has been bending over backward to incentivize entrepreneurs to start their companies in the city. These incentives include a reduced tax rate for startup businesses, which can be as low as 7.5 percent, while investments of up to ?5m can enjoy tax deductions of 20 percent. Corporate filing red tape, too, has been simplified to a simple online process. This entrepreneurship rush is a very interesting development with regards to real estate tech in Portugal or how PropTech can grow.
Real estate tech in Portugal
There are some very interesting startups working in real estate tech in Portugal. While there is a host of real estate classified listings portals, the interesting companies here are introducing high-tech tools to Portugal and the world. 3D modeling, virtual reality, augmented reality and cloud computing has made their way here. Some interesting companies here are:
ArqVR
ArqVR creates immersive virtual reality experiences to bring your architectural projects to life and allows you to present them remotely. It enhances collaboration by enabling multiple users to remotely participate in review sessions. The result is better designs, shorter timelines, and more effective process.
Porter
What Porter does is simple yet complicated- it makes your smartphone your keychain! Porter is an app based platform that helps you get rid of keys and key cards.
Factory
A little different from the usual coworking model, Factory provides flexible working spaces for fast growing technology companies in Portugal.
eGo Real estate
A product of Janela Digital, eGo Real Estate is a state-of-the-art solution which integrates into a single platform, a real estate professional site (template or custom), a real estate CRM software and many online marketing tools specifically designed for the real estate industry.
Casa Sapo
Another product of Janela Digital, Casa Sapo is the leading real estate portal in Portugal, advertising more than 400 thousand properties and with more than 1 million visitors, average per month.
Century21.pt
Century21 Portugal is an online platform for real time search of real estate near your current location. You can even contact their agent directly from within the app and search for residential or commercial properties all over.?
As one can see, there are a number of companies here doing innovative work in the sector of real estate tech in Portugal, and catering to a global market. But leading technologies and innovative tools have still not made their way to Portugal. Internationally, real estate tech is using many more efficient tools while Portugal is still on app based interactions. We expect this trend to change in the near future and for real estate tech in Portugal as well as PropTech to change here.
Way ahead for real estate tech in Portugal
The real estate tech in Portugal is a revolution that has started but still has a long way too. Entrepreneurship here is on the rise and so are the property development, with increased interest from foreign parties. PropTech or real estate tech in Portugal has a bright future ahead but a lot still needs to be done to bring it up to international standards. Many key technologies have still not been put to use here, and people seek usual methods and the help of apps to buy/sell a property. We predict that the next few years are sure to bring a wave of innovation here in real estate tech in Portugal and we can expect disruptive products for a global audience. Proptech here is sure to develop, and at a fast rate.
Copyright All Rights Reserved ? Yostartups | Please do not copy without written permission | www.yostartups.com
Want to know what makes a winning PropTech startup, check out these top 50 Real Estate Tech startups to watch out for in 2018
http://yostartups.com/50-real-estate-startups-watch-2018/
__________________________________________________________________________________
This article is from Yostartups, YoStartups is a Pre Accelerator, and it empowers entrepreneurs to propel their business ideas into successful ventures. Yostartups? core mission is to take the message of entrepreneurship to 1 billion people globally by 2020.
In case you are looking at scaling or launching a venture on similar lines, you can apply for our virtual acceleration program Excelrate on our website, Yostartups.com, Yostartups? Excelrate program will help you in streamlining and structuring your startup idea. We have limited scholarships and discount packs for deserving business ideas, depending on the strength of your startup ideas, you may qualify for a discount.
-----------------------------------------------------
*Any views, opinions and guidance set out in this website are provided for information purposes only, and do not purport to be legal and/or professional advice or a definitive interpretation of any law, marketability or fitness for a particular business idea for any market or industry segment. Anyone contemplating action in respect of matters set out in this website should obtain advice from a suitably qualified professional adviser based on their unique requirements. Yostartups, its employees, shareholders, directors, vendors, contractors, partners, associates, authors and contributors, make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk.