Just 5% of houses for sale in Lisbon and 11% in Porto aimed at middle classes

Statistics from the Century 21 group of estate agencies have confirmed that only 5% of properties on the Lisbon housing market and 11% in Porto are affordable for the middle classes.

This is according to Dinheiro Vivo, quoting statistics compiled by the real estate network Century 21 confirming a chasm between what the Portuguese need in housing and developers that are largely interested in housing aimed at the upper middle class and the wealthy.

Century 21 reveals that in terms of capital earnings, 77% of homes for sale are only accessible to families with an annual net income of €32,500 because these properties start at €330,000. In Porto, almost half of the number of properties for sale are aimed at middle class families.

Ricardo Sousa, CEO of Century 21 Portugal explains that the root of this gulf hails back to the global financial crisis from 2008 and the troika intervention in Portugal following a €78Bn bailout from the ECB/EC/IMF.

“This led real estate developers and investors to concentrate on a higher income market segment with clients who were not as dependent on mortgages.