House rents ended 2024 with a 9.3% rise. Lisbon and Setúbal lead in prices
Greater Lisbon and the Setúbal Peninsula lead the way in annual prices, with rents above the national average of 7.97 euros per square metre.
The median rent for new housing leases increased at the end of last year and stood at 8.43 euros per square metre (m2) in the last quarter, 9.3% more than in the same period of 2023, according to data released this Friday by INE, the Portuguese statistics institute.
Between October and December 2024, 24,445 new rental contracts were registered in Portugal, and the growth in the median rent (8.43 euros/m2) represents a slowdown compared to the increase seen in the previous quarter (9.8%). As for the number of new rental contracts, it increased by 3.4% compared to the same period in 2023, when there were 23,637 new contracts.
In 2024, the median rent for new rental contracts in Portugal was 7.97 euros/m2, with the Greater Lisbon and Setúbal areas, where Tróia is located, leading the way in terms of prices.
Even if we only analyse the last quarter of 2024, all the municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Greater Lisbon and the Setúbal Peninsula recorded median rents higher than the national figure, although with different year-on-year increases. Amadora (12.61 euros/m2 and 10.4%) and Sintra (10.82 euros/m2 and 9.7%) stand out as having higher new rental contracts and higher year-on-year rental increases than the country.
The sub-regions of Greater Lisbon (13.06 euros/m2), the Setúbal Peninsula (9.99 euros/m2), the Autonomous Region of Madeira (9.60 euros/m2), the Algarve (9.41 euros/m2) and the Porto Metropolitan Area (8.85 euros/m2) all recorded values higher than the national figure.
As for the municipalities, more than four dozen (42) had rents above the national value of 7.97 euros per m2. ‘Lisbon had the highest value (15.93 euros/m2), while Cascais (15.31 euros/m2), Oeiras (13.80 euros/m2) and Porto (12.58 euros/m2) also stood out with values above 12 euros/m2,’ points out the INE report.
On the other hand, rents fell in Alentejo Litoral (-7.3%) — the region with the biggest year-on-year drop in the number of new rental contracts — and in Tâmega e Sousa (-2.8%).
“Conversely, the biggest increase in the median rent per square metre of new family housing rental contracts was in the Terras de Trás-os-Montes sub-region (32.5%). The following sub-regions also showed increases of more than 10% in rents: Algarve (17.8%), Beiras e Serra da Estrela (16.4%), Alentejo Central (16.1%) and Ave (13.6%)”, lists INE.
