In a statement, idealista said that 23 families are interested in each property advertised, but this figure represents an 18% drop from 2024, when each property received around 28 enquiries.

According to Ruben Marques, spokesperson for idealista, “although the number of contacts per advertisement has decreased slightly since the beginning of the year, demand for houses to rent remains strong. This slowdown does not reflect a decline in interest among families, but rather a greater availability of properties on the market. Despite this, rents remain high and out of reach for many Portuguese people”.

In addition, the platform found, through its market analysis, that the cities with the highest demand were Santarém and Ponta Delgada, both of which received around 35 contacts per advertisement. These were followed by Portalegre and Leiria, with 30 interested families each, and by Évora and Setúbal, with 29 each.

Declines also registered

However, some district capitals saw significant declines in interaction with listings, namely Portalegre (-46%), Castelo Branco (-28%), Viana do Castelo (-25%), Faro (-22%), Braga (-20%) and Coimbra (-20%).

These are followed by Vila Real (-18%), Lisbon (-17%), Aveiro (-17%), Santarém (-16%), Viseu (-15%), Leiria (-15%), Porto (-11%), Setúbal (-8%) and Bragança (-2%).