Panel SA: Value per square meter in Portugal breaks record

The average value per square meter in Portugal continues to rise, according to the INE (National Statistics Institute), a local data body.

In February, it reached a record 1,314 euros (about R$6,850).

According to the survey made with data on housing credit applications, the increase is 11.9% compared to the same period last year.

Apartments are still more expensive, with an average of 1,462 euros per m^two. Houses are also with higher values, recording an average of 1,047 euros per m^two.

The region with the most significant increase compared to 2021 is the Algarve (19%). In Alentejo, the rise was smaller, below 8%.

The number of requests for housing credit in banks also grew in the period, 24% more than in February last year.

According to the INE, there were almost 29 thousand assessments, and the evolution must have been influenced by the measures to contain the pandemic, implemented in early 2021 in the country.

In 2021, the number of foreigners residing in Portugal on a regular basis rose for the sixth consecutive year, reaching a record 771 thousand. It was almost double those who officially lived in the country in 2015, when migratory flows began to recover after the economic crisis. Brazilians remain the largest foreign community.

Joana Cunha with Andressa Motter and Ana Paula Branco