Porto continues to attract companies to the city despite pandemic
28 Oct 2020
The business and economic dynamics of Greater Porto remain unstoppable with regard to the attractiveness of companies (mostly international) that despite the current pandemic context continue to choose the city of Porto to settle.
In the third quarter alone, the office market recorded a total occupancy of 10,269 square meters, which is equivalent to a value 6% above the demand verified in the same period of 2019, thus managing to offset the deceleration that occurred during the confinement season and maintain the line of recovery in business activity, which has been registered since June.
According to the data collected in the OnOffice report, published by the real estate consultancy Predibisa, although there was a drop of 8% with regard to the number of transactions, the average value contracted per operation increased, standing at 934 square meters, 16% above the value recorded in the same period of the previous year. In the accumulated result for the year, Porto is 28% above the year 2019, with regard to the absorption volume.
With regard to geographic areas, the highlight is the central area of the city with around 70% of transactions transacted centered on the so-called Central Business District (CBD), in Boavista. Then comes the Matosinhos area with 17% of the area placed and the Baixa do Porto area, with 13%.
These data are in line with the conclusions of a study carried out by the Municipality of Porto, carried out through the investment attraction office InvestPorto, where it was noted that despite the strong impact of the pandemic on the local economy, most strategic companies for the economic development of the Porto continues to look to the future in a positive way.
Graça Ribeiro da Cunha, Head of Predibisa for the Office area, admits that the pandemic has brought caution, with companies taking longer to close deals: "The office market in Porto remains attractive in attracting new companies to be installed in the city, despite the fact that the decision-making and negotiation process is currently longer. In the last few months, there has been a trend in the search for smaller areas, mainly for companies that are already installed in Porto. The analysis of new projects remains uncertain and we noticed a postponement in the decision process, the result of the current economic situation. In any case, we are confident that Porto will remain on the investors' radar and that we will end the year with a positive result, despite the impact of the pandemic ".
The main motivating factor for companies to search for new office spaces in the region continues, as in the previous semester, to focus mainly on expanding the area, corresponding to 55% of the leased area. Data that contrast with the same period in which the reason for the expansion of the area was responsible for only 33% of the absorption of 2019. The remaining 45% is mainly related to change of facilities (31%) and with the arrival and installation of new companies in Porto, about 14%.
In the first half of this year, the office market in Greater Porto had registered a 38% increase in occupancy volume, with a total of 28,381 square meters of offices filled.
