Property prices in the downtown historical centre of Lisbon experienced a 22.3% surge in 2015 due to the ‘growth in retail and tourism demand’ according to figures from the Confidencial Imobiliário magazine released this week.

‘The data is unequivocal. The historical centre of Lisbon is the market with the highest level of price growth in 2015 reflecting the strong demand that has focused on it in recent years,’ the magazine reported at a conference on Urban Rehabilitation.

The magazine also traced recent property price trends and found that prices in downtown Lisbon ‘had experienced positive growth between 2008 and early 2010, rising 12.5%’ before the financial crisis turned into a sovereign debt crisis and Portugal got backed into a bailout. This then sent prices in the city down by 8% between 2011 and 2012.

Confidencial Imobiliário stated that 2013 had first seen a bounce back with a price rise of 12.5% before a period of retrenchment with a drop of 1.3% in 2014.

The research covered over 8,000 transactions in central Lisbon since 2008 with half taking place during 2014 and 2015. Last year saw a total of 2,199 sales for a total of €709m, up an annualised 11% in number of sales and 37% in financial value.

According to the report, the average price in Central Lisbon is now €3,780sqm.