Today, the demand for homes for sale in Greater Porto is becoming increasingly intense in the peripheral municipalities. And this trend is expected to intensify in the future, as the expansion of the metro line will create new residential hubs. But that’s not all. Homes for sale in Porto are likely to become even more expensive and increasingly out of reach for families. There is also still a lack of high-rise construction. This is what experts interviewed by idealista/news at Imobinvest – Real Estate Fair, held last weekend at the Alfândega do Porto, claim.

Living in the municipality of Porto is not within the reach of every family budget. The residential market in Invicta is becoming increasingly expensive, with house prices reaching new highs and among the highest values nationwide. For example, in August, a 100-square-meter (m²) home had a median cost of 381,000 euros in the city, according to idealista data.

This high housing cost in Porto can be justified by strong demand, a lack of supply of affordable housing, “greater prevalence of mid- to high-end construction,” and the existence of “too many orthodox views against high-rise construction,” points out Miguel Portela, general director at Casa da Portela, citing the controversy surrounding the construction of three 25-story towers on Avenida Nun’Álvares as an example. He also recalls that Porto’s city center is becoming “depopulated,” largely due to owners’ focus on tourist accommodation. “A residential license should not include hospitality,” argues the expert.

Demand for homes in Porto’s outskirts intensifies...

Faced with these housing challenges in Invicta, families have increasingly been looking for homes in the peripheral municipalities of Greater Porto, where properties for sale are cheaper. “Today, house prices have been rising at a steady pace, and people are starting to look for solutions more in the outskirts,” comments Igor Oliveira, general director at Zome Matosinhos, explaining that in those locations “transport lines have a crucial influence on people’s choices, especially the metro.”

There is already “natural demand for the future metro areas of the city of Porto,” notes Pedro Almeida, Broker at Century 21 Nações. And the real estate and construction sector also tends to adapt. “Housing is already being developed in these areas where the new metro lines are not yet operating, and naturally, new centers will emerge there with new services,” he adds.

João Oliveira, CEO of Realty One, also believes that “developers will always look for locations along the metro line, because they know that demand is really higher. People really want to live close to mobility so they can be near work and not spend hours and hours commuting,” says the expert present at the event, where idealista was the official portal.

Therefore, “developing projects in the Gaia or Gondomar area [where the metro has already expanded or is set to expand] is becoming increasingly attractive compared to cities that already have more consolidated urban development and demand, such as Porto and Matosinhos,” admits Igor Oliveira. After all, there is a “structural challenge in building within the city of Porto, from construction costs to fees,” making it “easier and cheaper to build in the new areas,” where the “selling price ends up being lower.” The head of Zome Matosinhos speaks from experience, having launched at the event the Terrazza Park development, located next to Parque do Covelo in Invicta, which will feature 23 premium apartments.

Those who anticipate building or buying homes in areas that will eventually be served by the new metro lines in Porto (such as several localities in Gondomar, Trofa, Maia, and São Mamede) may end up benefiting. This is because “the value per square meter in these areas will inevitably rise,” so “the families who are buying today will see their investment in these areas appreciate,” summarizes Pedro Almeida.

But it doesn’t stop there. Real estate experts interviewed by idealista/news also acknowledge that the demand for housing in Porto’s outskirts is going even further. João Oliveira, of Realty One, says that “in one, two, or three years the demand will be so great that it will go even farther away.” The head of Century 21 Nações also notes “a shift beyond the metro cycle, into more distant areas from the city of Porto, where mobility to Porto is facilitated, for example, by train lines that can still be improved.”

Mobility in Greater Porto can be improved – and with more technology

Housing and mobility ultimately go hand in hand, both in terms of demand and supply. And this seems to be reflected in the expansion of Porto’s metro network, which will create 38 new stations by 2030, with an investment exceeding one billion euros. The expansion of Gaia’s yellow line was inaugurated more than a year ago, while the new pink line is expected to open by June 2026. But was this project well designed and adapted to families’ current needs?

In the view of the general director of Casa da Portela, “mobility in Greater Porto is poor (…) because it doesn’t meet people’s travel needs and is of very poor quality.” Furthermore, “it is planned municipality by municipality, when it should be thought of on a broader level, at the metropolitan area scale,” he criticizes.

The new metro network will not improve this picture, he argues, because there will still be a lack of an “East-West crossing, linking Foz to Gondomar, for example,” just as there is an axis that connects Póvoa de Varzim to Gaia. “It will take many years to change” the mobility panorama of Greater Porto, warns Miguel Portela, considering that “this is not solved with four-year measures, but with a 20-year metropolitan plan.”

What could also improve mobility in Porto is the incorporation of more technological solutions. An example is a smart bus stop: “A place with air conditioning for summer and winter, where people can see in real time (via GPS) where the bus is and exactly when it will arrive, with options to charge their phone, places to view ads and news, and solutions to validate tickets automatically,” describes Jesus Oliveira, head of the innovation and development department at Onno Solutions.

In his view, Portugal still has a lot of room to grow to make cities smarter. In other countries in Europe and the world, “smart cities are created, and then smart homes are designed right away, but we are doing it the other way around,” admits Jesus Oliveira, for whom “the comfort of cities is something that can be improved in Portugal.”

Smart homes and AI: the future of housing

The truth is that the demand for smart homes, both from developers and builders and from families, continues to intensify in the country. João Oliveira, of Realty One, admits that “this is something we can no longer escape from,” and that he has witnessed more smart homes being placed on the market, especially for the mid-to-high-end segment. In the future, he believes it will become increasingly “easier, cheaper, and more accessible” to access home automation solutions.

Jesus Oliveira, from the Portuguese company Onno Solutions, also confirms that families are seeking “more home automation in the sense of having an automated house that provides comfort solutions,” from energy efficiency to security. And for the future, he says that smart homes will be assisted by Artificial Intelligence, which will recognize residents upon arrival and automatically adapt everything to their presence: the door opens, the light turns on, the coffee starts brewing, and the temperature adjusts to their preferences automatically, for example. “In the future, we’ll arrive home and won’t have to touch almost anything, we’ll just need to take a shower,” sums up the expert.