Engel & Völkers has released the results of its Market Report Portugal, a set of research reports carried out in partnership with ImoEconometrics, which analyse the real estate transactions brokered by the German multinational in the period 2022-2023 in the real estate markets of Braga and Guimarães, Porto, Oeste, Sintra, Cascais and Estoril, Lisbon and Oeiras, Comporta and Melides, Lagos, Portimão, Albufeira and Carvoeiro, Vilamoura, Quinta do Lago, and finally Faro and Tavira. The markets that saw the greatest dynamism during the 2022-2023 period were Lisbon, Comporta and Quinta do Lago, driven by strong interest from international investors.

During the period analysed, demand for housing in Portugal continued its upward trend. In 2022, around 168,000 transactions were registered. Despite the slowdown due to the socio-economic context, Engel & Völkers once again exceeded its objectives, registering new records and growing in the number of operations, with more than 500 transactions and an intermediation volume of 260 million euros.

Looking ahead to 2023, Vanessa Moreira, sales director at Engel & Völkers in Portugal, says that "the property market is heading towards a scenario with lower levels of buying and selling than in recent years. During the first few months of the year, there was a slowdown in demand accompanied by an increase in house prices as a result of the rise in mortgage interest rates. In addition, the rise in inflation has also had a significant impact on families' purchasing power." He also adds that "The current high interest rate and caution on the part of the banks in granting new loans have led to some potential buyers opting for the rental market, where prices have reached historic levels in the main Portuguese cities."

Market analysis

According to the data in the Market Report 2022-2023, there was an increase in the average house price in all the regions analysed, with the Comporta region seeing the biggest increase, 67% on average. In turn, the region with the lowest average house price increase was Vilamoura, whose average house price increase was around 10 per cent.

With regard to foreign investment, the percentage in the regions analysed in the Algarve varies between 45-90%, with Faro, Tavira and Quinta do Lago registering the highest figures. On the other hand, the regions with the lowest percentage of foreign investment are Lisbon and Porto, with percentages of 13% and 12% respectively.

In terms of house types, there is a strong demand for properties with three to four bedrooms in most of the regions analysed. However, in the Lisbon and Oporto metropolitan areas, demand is focused mainly on flats with two to three bedrooms.

With regard to the rental market, there was an increase in all the regions analysed. Lisbon is the region with the highest price per square metre, reaching 20€/m2 at the beginning of 2023 in some areas. On the other hand, the West is the region with the lowest price per square metre, at 5.4 €/m2 in 2022.

The Market Report 2022-2023 was presented on 21 June 2023 at Engel & Völkers' headquarters in Lisbon, and was attended by Vanessa Moreira, Sales Director at Engel & Völkers Portugal, and Margarita Oltra, Regional Manager at Engel & Völkers Portugal.