Renting a house in Portugal: prices slow down to 2.4% increase in July

Housing rentals are slowing down in Portugal, due to current incentives for buying property, such as falling interest rates. The cooling of demand (reflected in the drop in new rental contracts at the beginning of the year) has influenced the evolution of rental prices. Once again, rental prices in the country slowed their annual rise to 2.4% in July (compared to a 3.5% increase in June). As a result, the median cost of renting a house in Portugal stood at €16.7 per square meter at the end of July, according to the Idealista price index. On a quarterly basis, rental prices dropped by 1%.

Higher Rental Prices in Major Cities

Although rental prices are rising less sharply at the national level, the truth is that they have continued to rise in all major cities analyzed. The most significant increases were observed in Viana do Castelo (15.4%), Coimbra (13%), and Viseu (11%).

Rental prices also rose over the last year ending in July in Setúbal (9.5%), Braga (7.2%), Évora (7%), Leiria (7%), Castelo Branco (6.9%), Funchal (3.9%), Santarém (2.8%), Porto (1.8%), Lisbon (1.6%), and Aveiro (1.4%).

Lisbon remains the most expensive city to rent a home: €22.1/m². Porto (€17.7/m²) and Funchal (€14.7/m²) rank second and third, respectively. Next are Setúbal (€13/m²), Coimbra (€12.6/m²), Évora (€12.1/m²), Aveiro (€11.9/m²), Braga (€9.8/m²), Viana do Castelo (€9.3/m²), and Leiria (€8.8/m²).

The most affordable cities to rent a home are Castelo Branco (€7/m²), Viseu (€8.1/m²), and Santarém (€8.5/m²), according to Idealista data.

Rental Prices by Major Cities

Median Value in July (€/m²/month)
Year-on-Year Variation (July 2025 vs. July 2024)

Vila Real Records the Largest Rental Increase Among Districts

Among the 17 districts and islands analyzed, rental prices increased in Vila Real (36%), Viana do Castelo (18.6%), Castelo Branco (18.1%), Coimbra (15.7%), Évora (11.4%), Portalegre (11.2%), Faro (9.9%), Viseu (9.2%), Leiria (9.2%), Setúbal (8.5%), Braga (8.3%), Santarém (7.1%), Aveiro (4.6%), Madeira Island (4.5%), Porto (3%), Beja (2.3%), and Lisbon (1.7%).

The ranking of the most expensive districts and islands to rent a home is led by Lisbon (€20.3/m²), followed by Porto (€15.9/m²), Faro (€15.8/m²), Madeira Island (€14.2/m²), Setúbal (€13.9/m²), Coimbra (€12.3/m²), Évora (€11.4/m²), Leiria (€10.3/m²), Aveiro (€10/m²), Braga (€10/m²), Beja (€9.6/m²), and Viana do Castelo (€9.6/m²).

The most affordable places to rent are Portalegre (€6.7/m²), Viseu (€8/m²), Castelo Branco (€8.4/m²), Vila Real (€8.6/m²), and Santarém (€8.6/m²).

Rental Prices by Districts and Islands

Median Value in July (€/m²/month)
Year-on-Year Variation (July 2025 vs. July 2024)

(* No representative data for Guarda and São Miguel Island)

Greater Lisbon Records the Lowest Rental Price Growth

In July, rental prices rose in all regions of the country. The Autonomous Region of the Azores led the increases (16.3%), followed by the Center (12.2%), Alentejo (10.6%), Algarve (9.9%), the Autonomous Region of Madeira (5%), the North (3.6%), and the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (1.9%).

The Lisbon Metropolitan Area remains the most expensive region to rent a home, at €19.6/m², followed by the Algarve (€15.8/m²), the North (€14.6/m²), and Madeira (€14.3/m²). On the opposite end are the Azores (€10.1/m²), the Center (€10.4/m²), and Alentejo (€11/m²), the most affordable regions.

Idealista Property Price Index

To create the Idealista property price index, listing prices (based on built square meters) published by advertisers on Idealista are analyzed. Atypical listings and those with outlier prices are removed from the statistics.

The index also includes the "single-family homes" typology and discards all listings that have been inactive for a long time. The final result is obtained through the median of all valid listings in each market.