Residential Development Down 17% in Portugal

New construction fell by about 13%.

Residential development slowed down throughout 2021, with a 17% drop in the number of dwellings submitted for licensing in Portugal. This figure stems from the Confidencial Imobiliário’s Real Estate Pipeline report, released today based on the energy pre-certificates issued by ADENE.

In the first eleven months of the year, 15,250 new housing projects for a total of 35,000 homes were submitted to the municipal licensing process in mainland Portugal. The tally presents a decrease of around 17% both in the number of projects and number of dwellings compared to the same period in 2020 when the residential pipeline in the country amounted to 18,250 projects and 42,250 units.

Regionally, just the Alentejo increased activity compared to 2020, as the number of dwellings was up 13% (1,210 vs 1,070). However, it is the region with the lowest share in the country total (3%). In the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, with 25% of the total number of residential units in Portugal, the decline was 18% (8,720 vs 10,570). In comparison, the Porto Metropolitan Area (21% of the total) saw a drop of 11% (7,200 vs 8,100). In the Algarve, activity decreased by 11% (2,540 vs 2,870) while maintaining its share nationally (7%).