Rental prices rose 5.9% per m2 in Portugal in January 2024

Year-on-year growth is higher than in December (5.1 per cent), with all regions showing positive year-on-year growth.

Rental prices in Portugal Taisia Karaseva on Unsplash

27 February 2024, 13:52

Portugal is mired in a housing crisis, with house prices, both for buying and renting, remaining high. Increasing supply is the solution put forward by many players in the property sector, but there are several challenges to overcome along the way. The most recent data from the National Statistics Institute in Portugal (INE) confirms that, in the case of rentals, the amount charged by landlords to tenants has skyrocketed, with rent increasing by 5.9% per square metre (m2) year-on-year in January 2024.

"The year-on-year change in housing rents per square metre was 5.9 per cent in January 2024 (5.1 per cent in the previous month). All regions showed positive year-on-year changes in housing rents, with the North and Lisbon recording the most intense increase (6.1 per cent)," concludes INE.

According to the national statistics office, in monthly terms, the average value of housing rents per square metre rose by 1.4 per cent in January (0.3 per cent in the previous month). "The regions with the highest positive monthly variation were the North and the Algarve (1.5 per cent), and there was no region with a negative variation in the average value of housing rents," reads the note.

Buying or renting a home in Portugal: what's the best option in 2024?

Every year the same question arises as to whether it is better to buy or rent property. What is the case in 2024, according to experts in the sector?

"There is no right or wrong answer depending on the specifics of each family. The decision to buy or rent is not only the result of financial circumstances, but also personal preferences, economic conditions, family logistics or labour mobility," says Patrícia Barão, Head of Residential at JLL.

"Buying a home will continue to be more important than renting, a trend that has been reinforced by the increasing costliness of rents in Portugal, which contributes to the fact that many have already opted and continue to opt for buying a property," adds César de Brito, manager of De Brito Properties.