Real estate transactions in Portugal increased by 0.5% in the first quarter of this year, the lowest increase among the 12 Member States analysed by the European statistics office, Eurostat.

Following a 5% drop in property sales in 2020, the first quarter of this year saw a 0.5% increase in the number of bought and sold homes. Despite the increase, it was the lowest in the EU, according to the analysis.

In the figures examined by Eurostat, only three of the 12 EU Member States recorded increases in the number of real estate transactions – Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark –, with Cyprus, Slovenia and Belgium with the biggest declines (over 15%).

“In 2020, the number of housing transactions decreased in several European Union countries compared to 2019, despite a continuous upward trend in house prices,” said Eurostat.

However, they add that “the reduction in the number of transactions may be associated with the blocking measures of Covid-19, particularly in the second quarter of 2020, which included the temporary suspension of real estate activity”.

In the meantime, house prices in Portugal increased by 4.5% in the second quarter of 2021, according to the latest results of the Residential Price Index by Confidencial Imobiliário. The average sales price reached €1,753 per sqm, with an average sale time of six months. 

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