The cost of housing in Portugal continues to rise, with house prices reaching record levels. However, a corresponding salary increase is not expected, and interest rates on housing loans tend to stabilize. Furthermore, the Portuguese are losing purchasing power and economic growth has slowed down, which affects the confidence of professionals in the real estate sector, which appears to be declining in the final stretch of 2025.
This information is revealed by the most recent Real Estate Sector Sensitivity Index (ISSI), prepared by idealista based on a survey carried out among real estate agents. Although there is still optimism regarding the purchase and sale of properties, confidence in both markets has decreased since the beginning of the year.
In the house sales market, real estate agents’ confidence registered 72.4 points in the fourth quarter, on a scale of 0 to 100, a drop from 74.7 points at the beginning of the year. With regard to leasing, expectations fell from 57.3 to 55.5 points.
The rise in house prices and the stabilization of interest rates, with Euribor at around 2%, are factors that contribute to the drop in confidence. Despite this, support for young people to buy a house and rental assistance should be maintained.
Regarding sales, 65.5% of real estate professionals believe they will be able to sell more homes by the end of 2025, a drop from the 71.1% who had this expectation at the beginning of the year. The proportion of agents who expected to get more homes to sell also decreased, from 67.5% to 63.2%.
In the rental market, there is a sense of stability, with 33.9% of agents believing that the number of homes rented will remain the same, compared to 32.9% at the beginning of the year. However, the prospects of renting and acquiring more homes fell to 22.8% and 22.2%, respectively.
As for rent prices, 47.4% of experts believe they will remain the same until the end of the year, although this percentage has decreased compared to 51.6% in the first quarter. The expectation of an increase in rents is now less accepted, with 30% of respondents predicting this possibility. The ISSI also reveals that a growing number of professionals prefer not to comment on developments in the rental market, reflecting growing uncertainty in the sector.
The post Rising Prices and Falling Confidence in Portugal appeared first on Veritas News.
