Landlords slash rents over Coronavirus crisis

Lisbon landlords are slashing rents by between 10% and 20% as Portuguese families struggle on less income.

The Covid-19 crisis is already biting and affecting the Portuguese property market with falls in both rents and house prices expected over the coming weeks and months.
Good news for house hunters, but awful news for house sellers who may have to take haircuts up to 12% in the non-luxury second hand residential housing market aimed primarily at Portuguese households.
And price cuts are already being seen on the web sites and in the windows of some estate agents for rental properties, with reductions of as much as 10%.
This is because landlords and estate agents specialising in rental properties are already factoring in a 10% reduction in rents as available income falls for families and they recognise that they will have to adjust in order to survive the economic crisis.
João Caiado Guerreiro, President of the Portuguese Association of Landlords (APPROP), told the online news site ECO that: “From the landlords that I have spoken to, all have already grasped the reality that rents will have to go down, and will be reduced too for homes that are currently up for rent”.
From more than 10,000 members of APPROP, many landlords have already taken the initiative to negotiate rents with tenants. There are non-housing landlords too slashing rents for shops and small offices by up to 80-90%, while with housing the reductions are more modest.
Looking at various estate agency sites, rents for vacant properties in Lisbon have been reduced from anywhere between 10% and 17%.
Even in the north of Portugal there are discounts on rents to be found of anywhere between 9-12%.
António Marques, the Commercial Director of online house sales portal Idealista says, “Comparing the period between 15 February and 15 March with the month of April, new listings for properties that have come onto the site for rent are 12% cheaper.”