Portugal's home prices, deals soar to record highs in second quarter

The value of Portuguese homes that changed hands in the second quarter soared 19.5% to a record high of 8.3 billion euros ($8.20 billion), showing that the appetite for property is red-hot amid high inflation, official data showed on Thursday.

The value of Portuguese homes that changed hands in the second quarter soared 19.5% to a record high of 8.3 billion euros ($8.20 billion), showing that the appetite for property is red-hot amid high inflation, official data showed on Thursday. The National Statistics Institute (INE) also said its housing price index rose 13% from a year earlier in its biggest increase since it started collecting data, exceeding annual inflation that clocked nearly 9% in June, with price increases being sharper in existing dwellings than in new ones.

"The numbers released today corroborate that there is an imbalance between supply and demand... that supported the continued price rise," said Patricia Barao, head of residential property at real estate firm JLL in Portugal, who did not expect prices to recede in the short term. The INE said 43,607 home sales occurred in the quarter, up 4.5% year-on-year, with the Lisbon metropolitan area and the northern region of the country accounting for 58% of the total.

Tax residents from other European Union countries and non-EU countries accounted for 6.3% of all purchases. That share has been rising as the country's sunny climate and lower cost of living than in most of the European Union has attracted a wave of foreign home buyers. ($1 = 1.0117 euros)

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