According to data from the Securities Market Commission (CMVM) and reported by ECO, the exposure of 265 real estate investment funds to residential properties in Portugal exceeded 2.5 billion euros in December, 59% more than that recorded in November and 63% above the investment recorded in December 2022.

This is the highest value since 2016 when the CMVM began to provide the fragmentation of fund portfolios by property purpose.

CMVM data shows that investment in residential assets in the European Union (mostly located in Portugal) was the biggest investment made by real estate funds last year.

The strong focus on residential assets was entirely guaranteed by closed-end funds which, in December, recorded a 60.5% increase in exposure to residential properties in their portfolios. In contrast, special real estate investment funds and open-end real estate investment funds recorded a 31.2% decrease in residential properties, according to CMVM data.

The creation of 33 new real estate collective investment companies contributed to growth, such as Herdade do Pinheirinho II and Herdade do Pinheirinho Resort, managed by GEF, which elevated this management company from fifth to third place among the largest in the country, ranking just behind Square Asset Managers and Lynx Asset Managers.

The growing focus of real estate funds on housing at the end of last year led to residential assets having a weight of 17.4% in these funds' portfolios, which compares with a percentage of 13.3% in 2022 or 14% in five years prior to 2023.