Location remains one of the key factors to consider when searching for a home to buy in Portugal, alongside price. When making the decision of where to live in Portugal, there is little doubt amongst buyers in 2024 and 2025: municipalities near Lisbon attract the most interest, possibly due to offering more affordable housing prices than the capital. At the same time, living on the outskirts of Lisbon provides access to the same employment opportunities, healthcare services, education, and cultural and leisure activities.
Among the 50 most sought-after municipalities for buying a home in Portugal—each with more than 500 properties for sale—20 are located in Greater Lisbon, completely dominating the top ten positions in the ranking. Amadora is the most searched-for municipality for purchasing a home, followed by Odivelas, Oeiras, Vila Franca de Xira, and Loures, according to idealista/data figures for the last quarter of 2024. The municipality of Lisbon ranked eighth in searches during this period.
It is only at 12th place that we find the most in-demand municipality in the Porto district: Valongo. In addition to this, the Porto metropolitan area has only five other municipalities among the most searched: Paredes, Maia, Gondomar, Matosinhos, and Vila do Conde.
As we move further down the top 50 most sought-after municipalities for home purchases, the locations become more diverse, expanding to other districts and islands such as Aveiro, Braga, Faro, Leiria, Madeira, Santarém, and São Miguel in the Azores. Notably absent from the ranking are the municipalities of Porto, Faro, and Funchal, which do not appear among the most searched-for locations for buying a home.
These figures suggest that the trend of searching for homes in the peripheral municipalities of Lisbon, Porto, and Faro strengthened in 2024. This is likely due to the more affordable property prices in these areas compared to urban centres—though prices continue to rise due to a spillover effect. For instance, of the 20 Greater Lisbon municipalities included in the ranking, 11 have average house prices exceeding €300,000.
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The majority of the 50 most sought-after municipalities have house prices above €300,000
Among the ten most searched-for municipalities for buying a home—all located in Greater Lisbon—house prices range from €199,707 in Moita (Setúbal) to €701,174 in Oeiras, according to data from idealista/data.
Looking at house prices in the 50 most sought-after municipalities for purchasing a home in Portugal at the end of 2024, the vast majority (35 in total) have average prices exceeding €300,000. Of these, six municipalities even have prices above €500,000. The most expensive of all is Cascais, where the median house price surpasses €1 million, followed by Oeiras and Lisbon.
Another notable trend in this ranking is that 12 of the 25 most expensive municipalities for buying a home were among the least searched for during this period. One example is Albufeira, in the Faro district, which ranked 48th in demand despite having a median house price of €584,000. Another case is Óbidos, in Leiria, which was the 41st most searched-for municipality but had the fifth highest house price at around €565,000.
As house prices decrease, the list of preferred municipalities becomes increasingly diverse in terms of location, meaning demand is not as concentrated around the major urban centres of Lisbon, Porto, and the Algarve. The most affordable municipality in this top 50 is Castelo Branco, where the median house price stood at €148,000, making it the 43rd most sought-after place to live at the end of 2024. Castelo Branco and Moita are the only two municipalities in this ranking with house prices below €200,000.
Methodology
We compiled the ranking of the most sought-after municipalities during the fourth quarter of 2024, focusing on those with more than 500 property listings for sale on idealista, the leading real estate marketplace in Southern Europe. Additionally, we analysed the average prices of the 50 most in-demand municipalities for purchasing a home in Portugal.
Using user behaviour data from idealista, we gathered an indicator measuring the demand pressure relative to supply. This indicator is based on the number of ‘leads’ (email enquiries, submitted offers, and properties saved as favourites) received per listing on idealista.
On one hand, the number of leads reflects housing demand from users. On the other, the number of listings represents the available housing supply on the platform. As a result, this indicator summarises the pressure of demand for homes for sale relative to supply in each municipality across Portugal. It serves as a key metric to assess whether the market is heating up or cooling down, depending on whether relative demand is high or low, respectively.
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