Portugal’s national statistics agency, the Instituto Nacional de Estantistica (INE), has recently released its latest figures on house prices in the country. Through September, 2008, house prices in the country fell 4.8 percent throughout Portugal. The average price of a home was €1,164 per square meter in September, down 6.5 percent from the peak price of €1,245 per square meter in the fourth quarter of 2006.
All of Portugal’s five mainland regions, as determined by the EU for statistical purposes – Centro, Lisbon, Algarve, Alentejo and Norte – have experienced housing price decreases since the beginning of 2008. Alentejo, south of Lisbon, and Centro, which includes the Silver Coast, have seen the largest drops at 8.5 percent and 7 percent, respectively, through September. Lisbon has had a drop of 5.7 percent, which comes on the heels of a 3.9 percent fall in prices in all of 2007.
The Algarve, which has been the most popular and resilient market in Portugal, also saw a drop in prices through the first three quarters of 2008 of 4.4 percent. The Algarve still has the most expensive homes in the country, though, with an average price of €1,473 per square meter.
