Buying a home in Portugal? Prices stabilized in July.

The search for housing to buy is slowing down in Portugal.Real estate sales are declining, and families now prefer to buy cheaper homes and take out smaller loans from banks due to rising mortgage interest rates. All of this is affecting the change in housing prices, which have remained virtually unchanged in July compared to the previous month, according to the price index from Idealista. However, this phenomenon may not be noticeable across most of Portugal, as housing prices have increased in eight major cities from June to July, with Viana do Castelo leading the growth at 5.3%. Meanwhile, in Lisbon and Faro, housing prices remained stable during this period.

In Portugal, the cost of a square meter of housing reached 2,531 euros at the end of July, based on the median price. This is almost the same amount as in the previous month. In terms of annual change, property prices in Portugal have increased by 6.2%.

Home purchase prices are rising in 8 capitals of the district.

In July, home purchase prices increased in 8 out of 20 analyzed county capitals, with Viana do Castelo (5.3%), Bragança (3%), and Santarém (2.8%) leading the list. They are followed by Vila Real (2%), Portalegre (1.5%), Aveiro (1.4%), Funchal (1.2%), and Porto (0.8%). On the other hand, prices for sold housing remained stable in Leiria (0.2%), Setúbal (0.1%), Braga (0%), Lisbon (0%), Faro (-0.2%), and Évora (-0.4%). It is also noted that property prices are decreasing in six Portuguese cities: Ponta Delgada (-2.5%), Coimbra (-1.9%), Castelo Branco (-1.8%), Guarda (-1.5%), Beja (-0.9%), and Viseu (-0.9%).

Despite the stabilization of prices, Lisbon remains the most expensive city for buying real estate.

Lisbon remains the most expensive city for purchasing housing, with a price of €5,349 per square meter. Porto (€3,441 per square meter) and Funchal (€2,979 per square meter) take the second and third places, respectively. Following the cities with housing prices exceeding €2,000 per square meter are Faro (€2,916 per square meter), Aveiro (€2,535 per square meter), Setúbal (€2,309 per square meter), and Évora (€2,203 per square meter). The list continues with Viana do Castelo (€1,949 per square meter), Coimbra (€1,808 per square meter), Braga (€1,702 per square meter), Ponta Delgada (€1,675 per square meter), Vila Real (€1,362 per square meter), Viseu (€1,322 per square meter), and Leiria (€1,311 per square meter).

The most affordable cities for buying property in Portugal.

The most affordable cities for buying property in Portugal are Guarda (€720 per square meter), Portalegre (€728 per square meter), Castelo Branco (€811 per square meter), Bragança (€894 per square meter), Beja (€926 per square meter), Santarém (€1,129 per square meter), and Leiria (€1,311 per square meter).

Analysis of districts and islands

Analyzing by districts and islands, the largest increases in real estate sale prices occurred in Portalegre (5.9%) and the island of Faial (3.8%). They are followed by Viana do Castelo (3.6%), the island of Porto Santo (2.3%), Guarda (2.1%), the island of Madeira (1.8%), Setúbal (1.4%), Santarém (1.1%), Aveiro (1%), the island of Terceira (0.8%), and Leiria (0.6%). It is also worth noting that housing purchase prices remained stable in July in the district of Beja (0.4%), Vila Real (0.4%), Faro (0.1%), the island of Pico (-0.3%), and Évora (-0.4%). On the other hand, housing prices decreased on the island of São Jorge (-5.6%), in Bragança (-3.2%), in Coimbra (-2%), in Braga (-1.3%), in Castelo Branco (-1.2%), in Porto (-0.8%), on the island of São Miguel (-0.7%), in Lisbon (-0.6%), and in Viseu (-0.5%). This means that sale prices for housing have stabilized or decreased in 14 out of 25 analyzed Portuguese districts and islands.

The districts of Lisbon, Algarve, and the Center

Housing prices have stabilized in Greater Lisbon, the Algarve, and the Center. In July, prices for purchasing homes increased in two regions of the country. Leading the rise is Alentejo (4.3%), followed by the Autonomous Region of Madeira (1.8%). Housing prices remained stable in the Algarve (0.1%), the Central region (-0.2%), and the Metropolitan area of Lisbon (-0.4%). On the other hand, prices decreased in the Autonomous Region of the Azores (-0.9%) and in the North (-0.6%).

Leaders of the ranking of the most expensive regions for buying real estate

The Lisbon metropolitan area, at €3,492 per square meter, remains the most expensive region for purchasing housing, followed by the Algarve (€3,177 per square meter), the Autonomous Region of Madeira (€2,607 per square meter), and the North (€2,107 per square meter). At the opposite end of the table are the Autonomous Region of the Azores (€1,346 per square meter), the Center (€1,400 per square meter), and Alentejo (€1,588 per square meter), which are the most affordable regions for buying housing.

To compile the real estate price index from Idealista, the proposed prices (based on square meters) published by Idealista advertisers are analyzed. Anomalous listings and prices that do not correspond to the market are excluded from the statistics. We also add a category for "private homes" and remove all listings in our database that do not attract user attention for a certain period of time. The final result is obtained by finding the median of all valid listings in each market.