Portugal’s coastal areas concentrate 85% of housing demand
Imovirtual’s Semiannual Study, which analyses the demand for apartments and houses for purchase between April and June 2026, shows that the Portuguese real estate market remains heavily concentrated along the coast.
Approximately 85% of searches conducted on the website focus on coastal districts, confirming the dominance of major urban centers.
Nevertheless, the study highlights that the country’s interior continues to establish itself as a viable alternative for many buyers, primarily due to greater price affordability.
Throughout the quarter, demand patterns in the interior also proved more consistent.
While the coastal region recorded a 25.3% drop in June compared to April, the decline in the interior was less pronounced (21.2%), reflecting a less significant slowdown in demand within these markets.
Despite this reality, the coast continues to concentrate the main hubs of demand. Lisbon accounts for 22.9% of all searches conducted in the country, followed by Porto (20.2%) and Setúbal (10.4%); together, they represent more than half of the national demand.
Inland, Santarém continues to play a prominent role, accounting for 37.1% of the region’s demand, benefiting from its proximity to the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and the search for more affordable alternatives.
Regarding prices, the gap between the coast and the interior remains significant. The average price point sought is €260,000 on the coast and €155,000 inland—a difference of €105,000, equivalent to the average value of a property in districts such as Bragança or Guarda.
On the coast, Madeira shows the highest average price point sought (€360,000), followed by Lisbon (€325,000) and Setúbal and Faro, both at €300,000. Inland, Évora and Santarém lead at €200,000, while Braganza continues to show the lowest average price point sought in the country (€120,000).
The study also reveals differences in price trends between coastal and inland areas. While buyers in Castelo Branco (+16.7%), Beja (+9.0%), Portalegre (+7.7%), Braganza (+6.7%), and Guarda (+6.2%) began looking for properties at higher price points, the opposite trend was observed in Lisbon (-5.9%), Madeira (-6.7%), and the Azores (-13.0%), where there was a slight decrease in the price ranges being searched.
The study also shows that Portuguese buyers remain clearly focused on family-sized homes. Among searches where the property type was specified, four-bedroom units (T4) accounted for 33.5% of demand and three-bedroom units (T3) for 31.9%, meaning these two categories make up approximately 65% of all searches conducted on Imovirtual.
This trend is even more pronounced in inland areas. Four-bedroom units are the most sought-after property type in all inland districts analysed, whereas on the coast, only Porto and Braga show three-bedroom units as the top choice.
Price differences also help explain this preference: while the median price for a four-bedroom unit on the coast is €310,000, that figure drops to €195,000 inland. In Braganza, for instance, the average price sought for a four-bedroom unit is just €138,750—less than half the value recorded in several coastal markets.
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