There are fewer and fewer houses for sale in Portugal. Rising prices in plain sight.

There are fewer and fewer houses for sale in Portugal. Upcoming price increases At the end of April, 135,000 properties were available for sale, 15,000 fewer than at the end of last year.

Portugal is clearly facing a decline in real estate supply. At the end of April, 135,000 properties were available for sale, down from 150,000 at the end of last year, a drop of 6%.

PUB Falling real estate supply could lead to price rises in the near future, especially in big cities, warns real estate consultant Imovendo.

The largest decrease in the range of properties was in apartments, while the supply of private homes remained relatively stable in the first four months of the year.

PUB "We are talking about approximately 15,000 new properties for sale in the first quarter in the Lisbon agglomeration and 4,000 new properties in the Portuguese agglomeration, with both agglomerations having a very similar drop, 15% in Lisbon and 18% in Porto compared to the last quarter of 2021," emphasizes Imovendo CEO Neliu Leão in an interview with Negócios.

According to an analysis by a digital real estateagency, most of the transactions are taking place in areas of large cities, especially in Lisbon, and the number of apartments, both new and pre-owned, is getting smaller.

PUB However, according to Imovendo, the pace of real estate transactions is similar to 2021, with more than 38,000 properties sold in the first quarter of 2022, and around 13,000 in April 2022, "meaning demand remains active despite rising prices and new restrictions on mortgages".

"There is still a lot of disbelief"Although inflation is already four times higher than forecast for last year, higher interest rates could lead the eurozone into an unwanted recession," emphasizes the CEO of Imovendo.

PUB Furthermore, Leau concludes: "This uncertainty, the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak are expected to affect consumer confidence and lead to a slowdown in the real estate market, although this market has proved to be very resilient over the past two years. "

In contrast, Imovendo states that in the first quarter of this year, more than 10 million euros of real estate sales were made, twice as much as in the same period last year, and this allowed their clients to save more than 500 thousand euros on real estate commissions because their business model is different from traditional agencies.

PUB "Our technological business model allows us to charge only a fixed commission to sellers, which makes us more resilient and prepared to deal with times of crisis compared to traditional real estate agencies," defends Neliu Leau, believing that in the case of Imovendo, "owners are at the center of the process, which provides a significant efficiency gain".

The buying and selling of real estate on the national market is expected to stabilize in the first half of the year compared to the first half of last year, notes Imovendo.

PUB Based on these data, the agency for the real estate market is expected to stabilize in the first half of the year.