The demand for homes to buy in Portugal is on the rise, having reached one of the highest levels in the last eight years at the end of 2024. In Portugal, demand for apartments for sale between 90,000 and 360,000 euros soared during this period.

Data from idealista reveals that interest in apartments and houses for sale increased in 2024, even reaching a historic high in the summer, when the IMT Jovem exemption came into effect. And although it fell a little on a quarterly basis, demand for buying a home ended the year at one of the highest levels recorded since 2018.

This trend of moving towards buying a house in Portugal - whether for a first residence, a holiday home, or a house to rent out as a business - increased in all 20 district capitals between the end of 2024 and the same period of the previous year, without exception. And there were even cities where values ​​more than doubled: this was the case of Portalegre, Beja and Ponta Delgada in the case of demand for apartments; and the case of Guarda in relation to housing.

In the Portuguese capital, there was a much greater annual increase in demand for apartments (+54%) than for houses (+10%). And exactly the opposite was observed in Porto: interest in houses increased by 32%, while interest in apartments grew by just 4% in the last year.

Demand depending on price

Families are paying more attention to houses for sale in Portugal in all price ranges: from the cheapest to the most expensive (costing more than 1 million euros). Of course, the demand for more affordable homes is much greater compared to the pressure felt on luxury homes, and it is increasing in the face of supply shortages and low wages.

The demand for apartments costing between 90,000 and 360,000 euros has soared in the country, with year-on-year increases of over 63%. The fact that the total exemption from IMT Jovem is up to €316 thousand may help to explain these results – it is worth remembering that the public guarantee on real estate credit only began to be applied at the beginning of this year. Within this price range, apartments with prices between €150,000 and €210,000 stand out, as demand has more than doubled in the last year.

Interest in luxury properties also followed an upward trend, albeit less pronounced, with demand for apartments priced above €1 million rising between 23% and 62% in a year.

In the case of houses for sale, there was a more significant increase in demand (always above 60%) in properties priced between €120,000 and €360,000, the same data reveals. And there was special emphasis on houses costing between 120,000 and 180,000 euros, with demand increasing by almost 80% annually.

In Lisbon and Porto, it was not possible to measure the demand for apartments for sale for less than 120 thousand euros – perhaps because the supply of cheaper houses in the two largest cities in the country is scarce or even non-existent. Above these values, it was found that houses for sale are attracting more attention from buyers, especially in the capital.

Apartments for sale in Lisbon between 180,000 and 210,000 euros have doubled in demand in the last year. And the same was true for the highest price levels of all (above 2 million euros). The smallest increase in demand in the capital was observed in the price range between €600,000 and €1 million, and even then it was 40%.

In Porto, an increase of more than 30% was observed in demand for houses between 210 thousand and 270 thousand euros, as well as in a lower price range (between 120 thousand and 150 thousand euros). But the biggest growth in demand in Porto was recorded in apartments for sale between 1 and 2 million euros (+59% in one year). Exceptions were also detected in this city: there was a cooling of interest in buying houses between €420 thousand and €600 thousand, as well as between €2 and €3 million.