This marks the first slowdown in the Housing Price Index (IPHab) since the second quarter of 2024, according to the INE.

More significant increase

Breaking down the price changes, the increase in the first three months of 2026 was more significant in existing housing (19.7%) than in new housing (12.6%).

Compared with the previous quarter, the IPHab grew by 3.8% (a 4.0% increase in the preceding quarter), with prices for existing housing increasing by 4.2% and for new housing by 2.7%.

The average annual rate of change in the Housing Price Index (IPHab) stood at 17.9% in the first quarter of 2026, 0.3 percentage points higher than the previous quarter and the highest in the available series.

During the reference period, this trend continued: existing housing showed a rate of change of 19.5%, while the price increase for new housing was lower, at 13.7%.

According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), between January and March of this year, 37,745 homes were transacted, 8.7% fewer than in the same period last year (a 4.7% decrease from the previous quarter) and a 12.4% quarter-on-quarter reduction.

This is the second consecutive quarter of negative year-on-year change in transaction volume (-4.7% in the last quarter of 2025).

Of the total sales

Of the total sales, 30,356 (80.4% of the total) were for existing homes, corresponding to a year-on-year change rate of -8.0%. By comparison, in new homes, the number of transactions fell 11.6%, to 7,389 units.

In the first quarter, the value of housing transactions reached €9 billion, a 3.2% increase compared to the same quarter of 2025, with a year-on-year variation rate of 6.9% in the value of transactions of existing housing, to €7.5 billion, and a 6.8% reduction in the value of new housing, to €2.4 billion.

Compared to the previous quarter, the value of housing transactions fell by 7.9% from January to March (an increase of 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2025), with a reduction in both housing categories, but more pronounced in the case of new housing (-11.2%) than in existing housing (-6.8%).

In the first quarter, sales of household housing fell by 8.7% year-on-year and 12.4% quarter-on-quarter, totalling 32,828 dwellings and representing 87.0% of total sales.

Housing sales grew

In terms of value, housing sales grew by 3.4% year-on-year and fell by 8.1% quarter-on-quarter to €8.6 billion, accounting for 86.4% of the total.

Meanwhile, housing acquisitions by buyers with tax domicile in the national territory fell by 8.4% compared to the first quarter of 2025, to a total of 35,975 units (95.3% of the total), totalling €9.1 billion (up 3.4% year-on-year).

Regarding buyers with tax domicile outside Portugal, 1,770 sales were recorded, 15.6% less than in the same period of the previous year (-20.9% in the fourth quarter of 2025).

Categories of buyers

Among the categories of buyers with tax domicile outside the national territory, the European Union category showed the largest contraction in transaction volume, at -16.8%, higher than that observed in the "other countries" category, which stood at -14.4%.

In a regional analysis, the INE (National Institute of Statistics) found that, up to March, all regions registered a reduction in the number of transactions compared to the same period of the previous year, with Madeira, the Azores and the Algarve standing out, with decreases of 25.6%, 11.4% and 10.7%, respectively.

Nevertheless, the value of accommodation transactions continued to grow in some regions of the country, with notable increases above the national average in the Setúbal Peninsula, Oeste and Vale do Tejo, Alentejo and Norte, ranging from 4.6% to 16.6%.