Almost half of the more than 12,000 homes that make up the 280 new residential developments launched in the first half of this year have already been sold, a clear sign that the supply in the Portuguese real estate market is far short of the country's needs.

According to estimates by the consultancy Confidencial Imobiliário, which has just released data from its new database "Buildings for Sale", 48% of the properties that entered the market this year have already been sold.

Lisbon has the highest volume of properties for sale, with around 1,800 homes being sold, but it has the least dynamic take-up rate in the metropolitan region: 36% of the sales rate.