By category, prices for existing homes increased by 8.7%, above the rate of change observed for new homes (6.6%).
According to the latest data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), published this Friday and relating to the last quarter of last year, in 2023, the prices of houses sold and purchased in Portugal maintained a “growth trajectory”, although there was a slowdownwith the average annual variation rate of the Housing Price Index (IPHab) falling from 12.6%, in 2022, to 8.2%.
By category, prices of existing housing increased by 8.7%, above the rate of change observed for new housing (6.6%). The difference in the rate of growth in prices for the two categories of accommodation was reduced by more than half last year, from 5.2 pp in 2022 to 2.1 pp in 2023.
In the last three months of 2023, the year-on-year rate of change of IPHab was 7.8%, 0.2 pp more than in the previous quarter. In this period, the prices of existing homes increased at a higher rate (8.1%) than that of new homes (6.9%).
For last year as a whole, INE data shows, 136,499 homes were transacted, for a total of 28 billion euros. These results represent reductions of 18.7% and 11.9%, both in number and value, respectively, for the year 2022.
“The reduction was particularly intense in existing housing transactions, which recorded variation rates of -21.4% in number and -16.5% in value. In new homes, there was a 6.1% reduction in the number of transactions and a 2.6% increase in value”, writes INE in its bulletin.
Between October and December 2023, 34,126 homes were transacted, corresponding to a year-on-year reduction of 11.4% (variation of -18.9% in the previous quarter) and a chain reduction of 0.4%. During this period, the value of transacted homes totaled 7.2 billion euros, 2.6% less than the same period in 2022. Throughout last year, the institutional family sector acquired 116,752 homes, for a total of 23, 5 billion euros, which represents an annual reduction of 19.8% in number and 13.8% in value.
Acquisitions of accommodation by buyers with tax domicile outside the national territory (foreigners or emigrants) decreased by 3.1% in number and 1.4% in value, with 10,391 homes being transacted, for a total of 3. 6 billion euros.
