Portuguese property investment funds returned an annual total return of 0.6% in September, according to the APFIPP/ IPD Portugal quarterly property fund index, which tracks annual performance of Portuguese property investment funds on a quarterly basis.

Despite remaining in positive territory in the third quarter, the annual overall performance of the APFIPP/ IPD Index contracted by 0.3% from June 2012 and by 1.5% year on year.

The index continued to benefit from the positive behaviour of open ended funds, which recorded an annual total return of 1.4%. Closed ended funds recorded an annual return of -1.3%.

Although positive, the annual performance achieved by open-ended funds declined by 1.3% year on year.

The annual total return obtained by the closed ended funds remained in negative territory, which occurred by the fourth consecutive quarter, having fallen by 0.5% and 1.7% compared to last June and the end of September 2011.

The APFIPP/ IPD Portugal Quarterly Property Fund Index is sponsored by PwC - and consists of 34 property funds with Gross Asset Value (GAV) under management of €6,7bn as at the end of Q3 2012. The sample comprises 12 open ended funds and 22 closed ended funds, valued at a GAV of €4.7bn and €2.0bn respectively.