This is revealed by the recent November's Portuguese Housing Market Survey (PHMS), a survey that reflects real estate confidence and expectations, conducted monthly by RICS and Confidencial Imobiliário.
According to the report, supply shortages and rising demand are the main limiting factors in transactional activity and the pressure on rising prices. Ricardo Guimarães, director of Ci, explains that "this is the concern of almost all the mediators who participate in the investigation and it is something that happens in both the purchase and sale market and the leasing market. However, the latest numbers point to a strong increase in new pipeline residential projects,” he says.
It states that "in year-on-year terms, there was a 66% growth rate in housing projects in licensing in the Lisbon region, with the increase at 82% in Oporto. New constructions will certainly ease the pressure on prices and help stabilize the market.”
Simon Rubinshon, senior economist at RICS, explains that the economic context of the country also plays an important role in the sector's expectations, given that “the Portuguese economy registered a solid recovery in the last quarters and in 2017 it was even the year with the highest growth of last decade. The perspectives for 2018 are equally positive and employment growth, associated to low inflation, should continue to provide a solid basis for consumption and ensure that the scenario for the development of the residential market remains favorable in the future”, he adds.
In November, the demand in the housing market continued to rise, with a slight slowdown in this growth rate. There was also a rise in sales, and a decline in new market positions, which fell for the 8th consecutive month. As a result, the price rise remained strong in all the regions analyzed (Lisbon, Oporto and Algarve), although Oporto has seen an acceleration in the pace of price growth.
Similar dynamics is observed in leasing, where tenants' demand remained strong, although slightly below previous months. At the same time, supply declined at the fastest pace in the last year, which continued to increase the rents. The professionals interviewed believe that this trend will continue in the short term.