Houses for rent are becoming more expensive in Portugal. This reality is especially visible in the 24 most populous municipalities in the country, where the imbalance between high demand and lack of supply is most evident.

Data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) reveal that house rents continued to rise in all these municipalities between the beginning of 2024 and the same period last year. They also show that the number of new lease contracts fell in 13 territories during this period.

“In the first quarter of 2024, there was a year-on-year increase in median income in the 24 municipalities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants, highlighting, with growth equal to or greater than 15%, Guimarães (19.5%), Vila Nova de Famalicão (18.3%), Coimbra (15.2%) and Braga (15.0%)”, reads the INE bulletin published this Thursday, June 27th, which contains provisional data relating to the start 2024. However, smaller increases in house rents were observed in Gondomar (1.6%) and Maia (3.4%). Lisbon and Porto are also at the bottom of the increase table.

Highest house rents

These are the five municipalities, among the 24 most populous in the country, that have the highest house rents at the beginning of 2024:

  • Lisbon had the highest median income (15.25 euros/m2), although a year-on-year rate of change (4.9%) was lower than the national rate (10.5%);
  • Cascais was the second municipality with the highest rent (14.47 euros/m2), which rose 10.9% in one year;
  • Oeiras is in third place with a median rent of 13.35 euros/m2, the result of an annual increase of 12.7%;
  • Porto is the fourth municipality with the highest rents (12.13 euros/m2). Value grew 7.2% between the beginning of 2024 and the same period of the previous year;
  • Almada is the municipality with the fifth highest income, at 11.41 euros/m2, a value that was fixed after having increased by 14.4% in one year.

The most affordable house rents in this group of 24 most populated municipalities are found in Santa Maria da Feira (5.23 euros/m2), Barcelos (5.26 euros/m2), and Vila Nova de Famalicão (5.31 euros/m2), according to INE data.

It should also be noted that, at the beginning of 2024, “eight of the 24 municipalities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants presented year-on-year rates of change in the number of new contracts higher than the national rate (0.9%), with Vila Franca de Xira standing out (20 .6%) with the greatest variation”, reveals the document. But the number of new rental contracts decreased in 13 municipalities, most notably Funchal (-11.5%), Oeiras (-11.4%), Seixal (-10.9%), Guimarães (-10.6 %) and Sintra (-10.0%).