Portugal’s house prices increased 8.4% in 2020
2020 was a year marked by the pandemic, but not even that brought down Portugal's housing prices. The number of transactions fell (-5.3%) for the first time since 2012.
Even in a year marked by a pandemic crisis, houses prices in Portugal rose 8.4% in 2020 compared to the previous year, according to data from Statistics Portugal (INE). However, this performance shows a slowdown, as in 2019 the increase had been by 9.6%. In 2020 there were 171,800 transactions, equivalent to a 5.3% decrease compared to the previous year, for a total of 26.2 billion euros.
Although the Housing Price Index (HPI) rose by 8.4% when compared to 2019, the rate of change was 1.2 percentage points (pp) lower than last year’s. 2019 saw the first annual slowdown in the rate of price growth since 2016 and 2020 continued this decelerating trend, INE says.
“Despite the unfavourable context arising from the restrictions imposed in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the prices of traded dwellings continued to present a growth dynamic in 2020,” Statistics Portugal explains. The upward trend of prices was manifested “both in existing dwellings (8.7%) and in new dwellings (7.4%).”
But while prices have risen, fewer dwellings have been bought and sold. Last year, 171,800 dwellings were transacted, 5.3% less than in 2019. “For the first time since 2012, there was a decrease in the number of residential transactions,” INE reports. Existing dwellings continued to represent the majority of transactions (84.5%).
Of all transactions last year, the Norte, which includes the city of Porto, (28.7%) and the Centro region (20.0%) concentrated 48.7% of the total number of transactions. The Lisbon Metropolitan Area, “for the second consecutive year, recorded a reduction (1.0 pp, in 2020) in its relative regional weight, standing at 33.5%.”
