New airport will stimulate the real estate market in Montijo. House prices in the area up by over 30% in 2 years

  • ECO News
  • 8 January 2019

As the opening time for the new Montijo Airport slowly approaches, real estate prices in the region are starting to go up. The new airport of Lisbon will stimulate prices in Montijo and Alcochete.

House prices in Montijo and Alcochete are increasing, on average, two times faster than in the rest of the country. This is mostly due to the construction of a new airport in this area, which will become the second airport for the region of Lisbon. Prices increased by 30% over the last two years in these two councils, and they are expected to continue accelerating as the time for the inauguration of the new airport comes closer.

Montijo had already been pointed out as one of the most feasible options for Lisbon’s second airport back in 2016, as the capital city proved it was too difficult to manage the large and increasing passenger influx resorting only to one airport. The real estate market is quite different in Montijo, and the factors which have been promoting the increase in real estate valuation elsewhere in Portugal have not been felt in this region at all – however, the opening of the new airport in the area did influence prices significantly.

“Houses are recovering the value they held prior to the crisis. And in some cases, they are even more valuable than they had been before that time. I don’t think this is happening only because of the airport, but I am sure it was a contributive factor”, said the only real estate mediator working in the area where the airport will be located (Samouco) to the radio station TSF, this Tuesday.

The data showing the average price per meter evolution in house sales in the region, published by the Office of National Statistics corroborates with the realtor’s notes. Ever since the first trimester of 2016, up until the second trimester of 2018, that value increased by 16.7% in Portugal, now at an average of €969 per square meter. In all the councils south of Tagus river, in general, the growth rates have been much lower than this. However, when we look at the specific municipalities of Montijo and Alcochete (in which the area of Samouco is located), the evolution of prices is quite different: much higher.

Between the first trimester of 2016 and the second trimester of 2018, the house prices in Montijo have increased by 30.6% in this area, standing now at €956 per square meter. In Alcochete, the increase was higher, at 35.5%, in the same period, making prices escalate to €1,263 per square meter. The increases in prices in these two locations are clearly higher than in other areas nearby, such as Setúbal, where in 2 years prices have increased by 25% in that period.

With the airport’s project about to kick-off, there is an expectation that prices will keep on growing. “We started witnessing the increase in demand for real estate in Montijo and Samouco, due to the airport project. And as time goes by and the project becomes more concrete, I can only imagine more opportunities will start appearing”, the realtor noted.