Portugal's Median Home Appraisal Climbs to €2,240 a Square Metre, but the Yearly Pace Slows From 16.6 to 15.2 Percent

The median value banks put on Portuguese housing reached 2,240 euros per square metre in July, 12 euros more than in June, according to figures the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Statistics Portugal) published on Wednesday. That is a 0.5 percent rise on the month and 15.2 percent on the year, down from 16.6 percent in June.

The deceleration is the story. Appraisal growth has run in the mid to high teens all year, and July is a second consecutive month of easing. It is a slowdown in the rate of increase, not a fall: no region recorded a year-on-year decline.

The numbers

INE counted 34,053 appraisals, 21,036 on apartments and 13,017 on houses, 1.4 percent more than the previous period and 0.6 percent more than a year earlier. The survey draws on seven institutions accounting for roughly 90 percent of new housing loans, and the monthly figure is a three-month moving average.

Apartments came in at 2,627 euros per square metre, 16.5 percent above July 2025. Grande Lisboa held the highest value at 3,469 euros and the Algarve followed at 3,010 euros; the Centro region was cheapest at 1,739 euros, the Alentejo just above at 1,778. T1 flats reached 3,343 euros, T2s 2,711 and T3s 2,255, together 92.9 percent of apartment appraisals.

Houses came in at 1,606 euros per square metre, 13.6 percent above a year earlier. Grande Lisboa again led at 2,922 euros with the Algarve at 2,846, and the Centro was lowest at 1,163 euros.

Where the movement is

The sharpest annual rise was on the Península de Setúbal, at 20.4 percent. The Alentejo produced the largest monthly gain, 1.3 percent overall and 3.9 percent for apartments alone, and its apartment stock posted the steepest year-on-year increase in the country at 25.3 percent. The Azores recorded the only notable monthly fall, down 1.9 percent, while houses in Madeira grew fastest on the year at 17.8 percent.

INE's index by NUTS III region, with the country set at 100, puts Grande Lisboa 51.7 percent above the national median, the Algarve 32.6 above and the Península de Setúbal 24.2 above. At the other end sit Beira Baixa at 52.9 percent below, Alto Alentejo at 52.5 below and Alto Tâmega e Barroso at 50.0 below, a spread of roughly fourfold.

What an appraisal is, and is not

This series is not a house price index. It records what a bank's valuer assigns to a property a borrower has applied to finance, the number the lender uses to size the loan. It lags sale prices and excludes cash purchases entirely. INE's transaction-based price index began decelerating earlier this year.

It still matters directly to anyone buying. If a valuation comes in below the agreed price, the buyer covers the gap in cash, because the loan-to-value ratio is calculated on the lower of the two. That gap has become harder to bridge since the Banco de Portugal (Bank of Portugal) cut the maximum debt-service ratio to 45 percent in August, and while interest absorbs close to half the average mortgage payment.

What this means for you

• If you are buying with a mortgage: budget for the appraisal landing under the asking price, and keep the difference in cash rather than assuming the bank will stretch.
• If you are looking outside the metropolitan areas: the Alentejo and the Setúbal peninsula are now the fastest-rising regions, so the arbitrage that drew buyers inland is closing.
• If you already own: a higher appraisal can help when renegotiating, because a lower loan-to-value ratio typically unlocks a better spread.
• If you are watching for a turn: two months of slowing annual growth is a signal, not a reversal. Nothing here points to falling values anywhere in the country.

INE publishes the August figures on 24 September, into a market where supply ran about 300,000 homes short of demand over five years.