Looking for a room in Lisbon? Average prices spike at €323

  • ECO News
  • 21 August 2018

The average price of a room in Portugal is €254, renting a room in Lisbon has become more difficult. And the reason is not scarcity, but yet the high prices that people are confronted with.

Idealista, one of the leading property listings portal in Europe, published recently a study on the house prices in Portugal. Demand for rooms for rent has doubled in a year, accordingly to the study. Room prices had a year-on-year 6,7% inflation and the average price for a room to rent in the country stood at €254/month.

Lisbon, the capital, is still the most expensive area to live in while in Portugal, in terms of room renting prices. The average price stands at €323/month and in Porto you will find it is slightly cheaper to rent a room, with average prices standing now at €261/month.

In third place in this ranking, we find Setúbal where the average price you pay for renting a room is €244/month, followed by Braga (€196).

On the opposite side of the ranking, the cheaper room prices you will find are located in Santarém (€169), Leiria (€180), and Coimbra (€190).

The highest increases in comparison to the previous year of 2017 were registered in some of the main municipalities of the country. The highest increase was felt in Setúbal, a region that is following the national increasing tendency, as it witnessed its room prices increase by 9,9%. On second place there’s Porto: the city’s residents and newcomers are now dealing with an increase of 8% in room prices. Next on the list of increases are Leiria (6,7%), Lisbon (4,9%) and Coimbra (3,7%).

Santarém was the only area that registered a decrease in room renting prices, in about 8,7%.

Profile of who shares apartments in Portugal:

  • 33 years old
  • Live in the centre of big cities
  • They do not smoke, although they are tolerant towards those who smoke
  • They do not have pets, neither do they allow pets

The average age of those sharing apartments, however, is varying quite a lot depending on the region. In Setúbal and Santarém, the average of this typology of tenants stands is 37 and 34, respectively. Whereas in Lisbon, Porto and Braga, flatmates are in average 33 years old. Coimbra, which is traditionally a student city, not surprisingly presents the lowest average (27 years old).

Regarding gender, in 79% of houses, both sexes live together, while only 15,8% live exclusively with women and 5,1% exclusively with men.

The statistics show that renting is not an option only for students. It is more and more the option for those who have just started their careers.