Bank house valuations see jump of 16.5% in prices in March setting new record
House prices in Portugal are continuing to rise in Portugal with the average price per square metre hitting €2,151 per square metre in March according to Portugal’s banks, up €29 on February.
This is according to the findings of the survey Bank Valuation in Housing released on Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
In like-for-like terms, compared to March 2025, the increase reaches 16.5%, although slightly below the 17.2% recorded in February, in a trajectory of rising housing prices that shows no signs of significant slowdown.
The apartment market continues to drive prices up. The median bank appraisal value for apartments stood at €2,511/m², representing an increase of 21.2% compared to the same month of 2025.
In the house market, growth was more moderate, but still significant: the median value stood at €1,542/m², representing an “increase of 12.6% compared to the same month of the previous year”, according to the INE (National Institute of Statistics).
Lisbon and the Algarve continue to dictate market rules. In the apartment segment, the highest values were observed in Greater Lisbon (€3,333/m²) and the Algarve (€2,883/m²), while the Alentejo and Central regions registered the lowest values, at €1,477/m² and €1,626/m², respectively.
For houses, the picture is similar: Greater Lisbon leads with €2,838/m², followed closely by the Algarve with €2,755/m², with the Central region and Alentejo again being the most affordable areas.
The Setúbal Peninsula is the region experiencing the fastest growth. With a year-on-year increase of 26.5% in apartments and 24.8% in housing in general, this area, home to hundreds of thousands of families seeking alternatives to expensive Lisbon, is experiencing increasing price pressure.
In the regional analysis, Greater Lisbon showed appraisal values 52.4% higher than the national median, while inland regions, such as Terras de Trás-os-Montes and Beiras e Serra da Estrela, were more than 50% below that median.
In the interior of Greater Lisbon, one-bedroom apartments (T1) reach reference values that leave little room for lower-income buyers, with the median value of T1 apartments rising by €48 to €3,174/m², while T2 and T3 apartments increased to €2,586/m² and €2,170/m², respectively.
Together, these three types of units represent 92.5% of all apartment appraisals carried out in March, which clearly shows that the vast majority of contracted mortgages are concentrated in this segment.
The number of bank valuations carried out in March was 32,839 – 62% for apartments and 38% for houses – a figure that increased by 10.8% compared to the previous month, but fell by 10.3% year-on-year. This decrease compared to last year may partly reflect lower demand for housing loans, in a context where financing conditions remain demanding for many families.
Source: INE; Credits: Unsplash: Liam McKay.
