Housing: Sales and Demand Accelerate in January

26 February 2018

The results of the RICS/Confidencial Imobiliário PHMS survey for January 2018 point to an acceleration in the growth of sales and demand at the beginning of the year, despite the continuing decrease in the number of new market placements.

The lack of stock – the study says – “continues to affect the rental market, with an imbalance between increasing demand and a drop in supply, leading to growth in rents.”

In January there was “an increase in new buying intentions, after having remained relatively stable during the previous month. The respective indicator grew by 23%, doubling compared to the end-of-year figures”- the survey reported. The study was conducted with dozens of professionals across the country.

The survey, which analysed the regions of Lisbon, Porto and Algarve, also stated that “new sales placements in the market have been further reduced, prolonging the negative series of this indicator (10 consecutive months),” with the trend affecting every region under analysis.

Notwithstanding the shortage of supply, “sales rose at the fastest pace since July of last year,” although there were variations in the three regions: respondents in Lisbon and Porto reported solid growth, while the trend was slightly negative in the Algarve.

44% of the survey’s respondents reported “a rise in prices announced during the period, as the indicator stayed stable for a four consecutive month. Thus, the increase in housing prices is expected to continue.” “Respondents expect an increase in home sales announcement of roughly 4% over the next twelve months.” An important data point in the series is that forecasts for Porto surpassed that of other regions, although narrowly, with anticipated growth of around 5%.”

Original Story: Diário Imobiliário

Translation: Richard Turner