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2020 was a pandemic year, but the real estate sector was the one that showed the most resistance. The crisis had an impact on the market, clearly, but the (positive) results were not very different from previous years. They sold themselves and bought fewer houses, of course, but prices continued to rise. In fact, they actually went up. Last year's figures are already known and the ECO brought together the top five.

Prices up 8.4% in 2020

8.4% was the evolution of house prices last year. Data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) show that homes were 8.4% more expensive in 2020, even in a year that was marked by the pandemic. Still, this development shows a slowdown, since in 2019 the price increase had been 9.6% and in 2018 10.3%. Example: an increase of 8.4% in a house of 100,000 euros represents an increase of 8,400 euros.

But why, even in a pandemic year, prices have not dropped? The ECO prepared a paper to answer this question, where it concluded that the scarcity of supply, low interest rates and family changes were the main reasons.

171,800 dwellings were transmaned

Although prices went up, they sold and fewer homes were bought nationwide. THE INE data indicate that 171,800 homes were translisted in 2020, 5.3% less than in 2019. It was the first time since 2012 that the number of trading dwellings has fallen. Of this total, 145,181 were existing houses and 26,619 new construction. North and Center led in terms of locations.

Transactions totaled €26.2 billion

The 171,800 homes traded in 2020 represented 26.2 billion euros, a figure that rose 2.4% compared to 2019, the INE said. The value of new home transactions increased 9.3% to €5.4 billion, while that of existing homes rose 0.7% to €20.8 billion. The Metropolitan Area of Lisbon had a weight of 45.4% in the total amount transacted.

83,599 houses traded in the North and Central

In an analysis of houses sold/bought by regions, the North (28.7%) and the Centre (20%) 48.7% of the total number of transactions, with "the highest overall relative weight since 2014," the INE said. In absolute numbers, 49,253 houses were transactioned in the North (27,519 in the Metropolitan Area of Porto) and 34,346 in the Center.

By relative weight, behind is alentejo (6.9%, 11,847 transactions) and Madeira (1.8%, 3,168), which also saw their quotas increase. On the other hand, the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon, "for the second consecutive year, recorded a reduction in its regional relative weight, setting it at 33.5%," totaling 57,471 transactions. The Algarve also lost weight (7.6%, 13,071), as did the Azores (1.5%, 2,644).

EUR 11.9 million transacted in Lisbon

With regard to the 26.2 billion euros of total value transacted last year, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area stands out for its positive, having a weight of 45.4%, equivalent to 11,897,164 million euros. However, "this was the third consecutive year that this region recorded a reduction in its relative weight in the total value of house sales," says the INE, recalling the 48.2% weight lisbon had in 2017.

Of the other regions, in the Algarve there was also a decrease in their relative weight (10.2%, 2,671,176 million), while the North (24.3%, 6,358,873 million) and the Centre (13%, 3,400,581 million) together accounted for 37.3% of the total value of transactions, also losing weight. As in 2019, the Alentejo rose to 4.2% (1,101,184 million), accompanied by the Autonomous Region of Madeira, which grew to 1.8% (470,268 euros). The Autonomous Region of the Azores maintained a relative share of 1.1% (EUR 287,289)

In eco.sapo.pt, 28 March 2021 | Rita Neto