This report, produced by RICS and by Ci, relative to January, shows that professional projections for this year point to an increase in house process of about 4% in these two regions, while Porto expects a slower rise.
There is evidence in the market that there is a new accelerated rise in house prices at national level, as well as increasing demand and levels of sales which continue to be more than the available supply. Meanwhile, supply recovered slightly in January, with the number of new homes for sale increasing slightly for the first time in six months. There has also been a sharp rise in sales in the 3 regions, with demand continuing to be more than supply, putting upward pressure on prices.
On the other hand, in the rentals market demand continues to increase substantially, a tendency verified in recent years, which has led to rent increases.
Ricardo Guimarães, director of Confidencial Imobiliário, commented in a press communication that «prices are going up in all the markets covered by the survey. More intensively in Lisbon and the Algarve, but Greater Porto is following a similar path». He explains that «the main difficulty mentioned by those surveyed at present is the scarcity of houses, both for sale and for rent, but principally for sale, with a slight slowing down in demand for rental property. Market conditions are clearly favourable for the real esate dynamic and expectations are that prices and demand will continue to go up in 2017».
Simon Rubinsohn, senior economist at RICS, stresses the fact that in January «there was confirmation of the growth of GDP in Portugal, overtaking the average for the euro zone for the second consecutive term in the 4th term of 2016. The second half of 2016 showed the greatest growth per semester since 2010. Nevertheless, as in everything else, the economy remains 4% below that of 2008 and it will be necessary to maintain a sustained effort in order to continue to support the real estate market».