Rental housing in Portugal has grown by 50% in 5 years

Cascais, Oeiras and Almada had the most significant increases in the price of rental housing compared to other areas, according to INE data.

More and more families are choosing to rent in Portugal because it is getting harder to get a mortgage, but the supply of rental housing is still insufficient. This is why we see rental prices in Portugal increasing month by month.

If we look at a period of five years, the evolution is even more pronounced: property rents rose 49% from 2017 to 2022, amounting to 6.52 euros per square meter in the last 12 months to December.

With the cost of living in Portugal rising to historic highs

Data from the Portuguese National Institute of Statistics (INE), published on March 29, shows that rental housing in Portugal is in constant growth, with the average rental value per square meter of new leases rising from 4.39 euro/m2 in the second half of 2017 (last 12 months) to 6.52 euro/m2 in the same period of 2022 (+49%).

So how much does the average rent in Portugal cost?

In other words, renting an apartment with an average size of 112.4 m2 in Portugal (according to the 2021 census) costs 733 euros/m2, almost 240 euros higher than in 2017 for an apartment with the same area (494 euros/month). In absolute terms, the highest rent increases were recorded in Cascais, Oeiras and Almada, according to Jornal de Notícias calculations based on INE data.

It is important to remember that the price of renting in Portugal is mainly due to the imbalance between high demand and low supply.