House prices increase 10.3% in the third quarter

House prices in Portugal continue to rise. In the third quarter of this year, they increased 10.3% year-on-year, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE) on Monday.

The Housing Price Index has always been growing and increased 1.2% compared to the previous quarter. However, this was “the lowest growth rate of the last four quarters,” signals INE. When you look at the categories, existing houses have seen prices rise at a faster pace than new ones.

The number of sales fell again, with “between July and September 2019 there were 45,830 transactions, which represents a reduction of 0.2% compared with the same quarter of 2018,” says INE. Even so, the value of transactions was close to 6.5 billion euros, 3% more than in the third quarter of last year.

Compared to the previous quarter, sales were up 7.6%. The value of transactions also rose compared to the period between April and June of this year, “interrupting a series of three consecutive quarters of chain reductions,” points out INE.

The value of housing transactions in the North, Centre and Alentejo regions reached the highest amounts since registration, with 1.5 billion euros, 850 million euros and 260 million euros, respectively. Transactions in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area have decreased, but still represent almost half of the total value.