4 March 2021 – Ana Custódio
According to data published Tuesday by Portugal’s National Statistics Institute (INE), the average price per square meter at which the country’s banks have been valuing houses while processing mortgage loan applications rose in January to a new high of 1,170 euros.
According to the INE’s Survey on Bank Housing Evaluations (IABH), the indicator reached 1,170 euros per square meter in January, an increase of 14 euros (+1.2%) compared to the previous month. At the same time, housing prices rose by 6.1% year-on-year, despite the pandemic.
Apartments saw a growth of 1.4% to 1,284 euros per square meter. Simultaneously, the price of houses rose by 1.1% month-on-month, with bank valuations reaching an average of 968 euros per square meter in January. Compared with the same period in 2020, the price of flats rose by 7%, with the valuation of houses falling by 4.9%.
According to the data, there were a total of 24,857 bank evaluations in January, including 15,805 flats and 9,052 houses, 3.2% more than in the same period of the previous year. There were 1,553 fewer bank evaluations, a drop of 5.9%, compared to December. Average bank valuations have been rising since October, first reaching a new high of 1,156 euros per square meter in December.
The Northern region of Portugal the most significant month-on-month increase in housing prices (0.9%), while the sharpest reduction came in the Autonomous Region of Madeira (-1.3%). Compared to January 2020, the largest increase also occurred in the North (5.7%), with the only decrease seen in the Alentejo (-0.7%).
Translation: Richard Turner
