Portugal’s real estate sector is under high pressure—supply is not keeping up with demand. More figures and details by region are below.

One house built for every nine sold is a telling statistic of high demand and insufficient supply in the Portuguese real estate market. Between January and September 2022, there were 129,374 homes sold and 14,451 homes built in Portugal. These figures are given by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). 

The situation can vary from region to region. For example, in the North and the autonomous region of the Azores, the difference is slightly smaller: for every six houses sold, one is built. In the regions of Alentejo and Algarve, the difference between supply and demand is even more enormous: up to 16 houses are sold for every one built. And for every house built in the Lisbon metropolitan area, 12 homes were sold. These are all figures for the first nine months of 2022.

It is also curious that the Portuguese market is very popular among foreigners. It is known that foreign buyers took 14% of the total number of mortgages issued in the country in 2022 (in 2021, it was 10.8%). The most active home loans are taken by citizens of Brazil, Britain, and the United States.