The most recent figures show that Portugal continues to attract investment. In the first half of 2026, more than 1,410 million euros were invested in commercial real estate, an increase of 14% compared to the same period in 2025, with about 70% of this capital of foreign origin. In other words, capital has not disappeared; it has only become more selective.

WORX's WMarket Review Mid-year 2026 precisely anticipates a market in which institutional investors should favour prime assets and core+ and value-add strategies. Most importantly, it identifies a change in the way return can be generated: through asset repositioning, operational improvement, rent growth, and CAPEX investment, rather than relying solely on yield compression. This change may seem technical, but it represents a relevant transformation: valuation will increasingly have to be owner-created and less expected from the market.

Offices are a good example. In Greater Lisbon, absorption fell by 20% in the first half of the year, to 66,900 m², but prime rents increased in most areas, reaching 33 euros per square meter per month in Prime CBD. The study associates the sustainability of these values with the entry of high-quality buildings and new standards of sustainability and well-being. The same principle can be seen in other segments: in logistics, there is a preference for modern, efficient and technically adequate facilities; in retail, spaces have to respond to new demands for experience, convenience and omnichannel; and, in hospitality, investors and operators are looking for opportunities to increase value through renovation, repositioning and improvement of operational indicators.

Perhaps here lies one of the great real estate trends of the coming years: the growing gap between good assets and obsolete assets. For decades we have repeated that the three most important factors in real estate were location, location and location. Location will, of course, continue to be decisive, but perhaps it will no longer be enough.

Construction quality, energy efficiency, flexibility, technology, operating costs, sustainability and the ability to adapt to the needs of users may increasingly weigh on the decisions of companies, investors and financiers. This also creates a new risk: a building does not need to be empty to start losing economic relevance. It can be busy and still become progressively less competitive in the face of a new generation of assets.

Portugal continues to benefit from demand, international investment, tourism and a shortage of quality supply. But the market is becoming more demanding and more differentiated. Perhaps this is precisely the characteristic of the next cycle: it will not necessarily be a market in which all assets appreciate, but a market in which the best owners will have to know how to create that appreciation.

And this is what transforms real estate from a simple investment decision into a true management, transformation and value creation activity.