The price of homes sold in Portugal continues to increase. Data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) reveal that the median cost of housing was 1,661 euros per square meter (euros/m2) taking into account transactions carried out between July 2023 and June 2024. This means that houses were sold for a value of 1.7% higher compared to the year ending in March 2024 and 7.8% higher compared to the 12 months ending in June 2023.
However the national median does not reflect the reality of house prices across the country. This is because of the 301 municipalities with available data (out of a total of 308) only 53 municipalities present values equal to or higher than the median cost of housing at a national level, which suggests that these are the values practiced in the large urban centres of Lisbon, Porto and Faro, which have stimulated the increase in house prices nationally. In other words, the vast majority of Portuguese municipalities have house prices below 1,661 euros/m2, according to INE data.
Where are the cheapest municipalities to buy a house?
It is in the interior of the country where the municipalities with more affordable housing prices are located. The cheapest of all is Pampilhosa da Serra, district of Coimbra, which presented a house price (median) of 224 euros/m2 in the last 12 months ending in June 2024. In other words, a 100 m2 house was sold for €22,000 in this period.
The second cheapest municipality to buy a house during this period is Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, district of Guarda, with a price of 229 euros/m2. And the third is Sernancelhe (Viseu district), where buying a house costs 245 euros/m2. Therefore, in these municipalities, it is possible to purchase a 100 m2 house for €24,500 or less.
The 10 cheapest municipalities to buy a house in Portugal all have median values below 300 euros/m2 – which means that a 100 m2 house costs less than €30,000. In addition to these, there are only five other municipalities in the country with median house prices below this level: Santa Cruz da Graciosa, Idanha-a-Nova, Vila Velha de Ródão, Torre de Moncorvo and Aguiar da Beira, reveal data from INE.
Most expensive municipalities to buy a house
At the opposite end of the table are the 10 most expensive municipalities to buy a house in Portugal. And, unsurprisingly, these are located, above all, in three large districts: Lisbon, Porto and Faro.
Lisbon is the most expensive municipality of all, with a median house price of 4,203 euros/m2. And in second place is Cascais, with 4,023 euros/m2. These are the only municipalities in the country where the median cost of a 100 m2 house is more than €400,000.
The top 10 most expensive municipalities to buy a house in is dominated by municipalities in the Algarve (6 out of 10), followed by territories in the Lisbon district (3). Porto is the only municipality in the North that appears on this list, in sixth place, with a median house price of 2,992 euros/m2.
Not a realistic conclusion. A €30,000 property, even in the interior of the country, will be a ruin. If a county has a lot of ruins for sale as opposed to properties in good condition, this will bias downwards the average cost per square metre. You must compare like for like, not monkeys and giraffes.
By Billy Bissett from Porto on 25 Oct 2024, 19:36
Too expensive, and government is corrupted, crime is high.
By Joaquim Costa from USA on 26 Oct 2024, 14:13