It is the new trend of downtown Porto real estate market: new small apartments, with good areas and good finishes. These properties, which oscillate between studios, lofts and T0/T1, stand out for their luxury, comfort and insertion in historic buildings of the city. Another typical feature of these apartments for sale downtown is the dedication to the design of the common spaces, such as the beautiful gardens and the interior patios, and to the private exterior areas, such as the balconies and terraces. Architecture and design are also part of this set of apartments for sale in Porto, which aims to meet the expectations of those seeking to be close to trade, services, the main tourist attractions and the city's dazzling cultural life.
Common to almost all of these real estate projects, in which this new type of apartment in the centre of Porto is included, is the façade, always carefully rehabilitated but keeping the original design, and the long staircase accompanied by beautiful wooden handrails and by a skylight. Moreover, the staircases of the buildings are a kind of tribute to the way in which the historic centre of the city has been built: the staircases follow the path of the Fernandine walls, which went from the riverside area of Douro to the high districts of Sé and Vitória. The steps are therefore a trademark of Porto. Just think of the Guindais stairs, the higher you climb, the more beautiful the view. Anyone looking for a T0 or T1 in historical Porto or a studio in central Porto should remember this rule. It's clear in the case of this apartment in the heart of the city, which benefits from an 80 m2 terrace with an extraordinary view.
These developments are ideal investments to make profit in short-term stays. The city, which has only 41 square kilometres, receives around 4500 tourists a day, most of them to sleep between two and three nights. Foreigners' visits to Porto are concentrated in an area of two to three kilometres, from Avenida dos Aliados to Praça Carlos Alberto and then to Douro River, reveals a study recently presented by the Tourism Planning and Development Institute (IPDT). It is precisely in this route that this new real estate concept is located which makes every apartment in Porto a kaleidoscope of possibilities for those who want to live alone or invest in a real estate segment of guaranteed return. However, it is also possible to find in these residential complexes 3-bedroom apartments and 4-bedroom apartments.
This type of real estate investment makes perfect sense in a city that is witnessing unparalleled development in its history and that has never ceased to attract visitors, students and investors and, consequently, to win prizes. In addition, Porto promotes festivals throughout the year, which dilutes the distinction between high and low season. Winter festivals such as Fantasporto (Porto International Film Festival with a taste of Fantasy), FITEI (International Festival of Iberian Expression Theatre) or Future Forum (Porto Thought Festival) involve a considerable number of foreigners. The São João Festival, in June, and the New Year's Eve, in December, have sold out all the hotel spaces for several consecutive years.
There is still to consider the dynamics of the University of Porto, which last year broke the record of foreign students and researchers: there were 5600, not counting professors and guest speakers for sporadic initiatives. And the growing number of industrial and technological investment in the city, already considered a "talent incubator", is also unavoidable: multinationals such as the iconic Leica, the wind giant Vestas, the world's largest hostel reservation platform HostelWorld, the second largest French banking group Natixis, the intelligent lighting solutions group Zumtobel or the dental implant distributor Klockner are just a few examples of the several hundred companies that have chosen Porto to install their headquarters. Also on the way, as we know, is Amazon.
Buying an apartment in Porto is, for all these reasons, one of the best investments at the present time. A quick search on the website of LUXIMOS Christie's International Real Estate, the reference luxury real estate agency in the city, easily demonstrates why this investment is a winning bet, especially within the new real estate trend, which combines luxury with comfort and centrality.
