No slow down in Portugal housing market

The rise is expected to slow down compared to recent years, but it is “unlikely” that they will fall sharply any time soon. According to a report by ECO. "The growth of house prices will be moderate in the future, as interest rates are rising", predicts the Commission.

The scarcity of houses in the market and the “strong demand from foreign investors” is justification, according to the ‘Country Report’, one of the documents evaluating the country within the framework of the EC 2023 European Semester cycle.

The EC points to the average overvaluation of the housing market and says that last year, prices were 24% higher compared to what would be normal, taking into account the fundamentals of the market. In 2021, this deviation, which reflects the overvaluation of homes, had already reached 20%. “In the last decade, in Portugal, these prices have doubled in nominal terms, having in the last three years, 2020 to 2022, registered an increase of 34%”, calculates the Commission.