The rents of residential lease contracts signed in the 3rd quarter of this year increased by 10%, both in Lisbon and Porto, compared to the rents charged in the contracts signed in the previous quarter. The data is collected by Confidencial Imobiliário as part of the Residential Rent Index, a tool that tracks changes in housing rents based on new contracts entered into.
“Never before in any of these cities has there been a quarterly increase of such magnitude. The timing of this increase in the current situation and the fact that it is happening simultaneously in both markets suggest a position of landlords in relation to the rental discount limit for the following year. This unprecedented quarterly increase of 10% could be a means of hedging inflation through new contracts, anticipating the losses that could arise from the impossibility of doing so in current contracts due to the caps imposed on discounting. rents,” said Ricardo Guimarães. , director of Confidential.
After nearly two years of decline, rents for new contracts in Lisbon have been rising again since mid-2021, with quarterly variations above 2.5%, which are now galloping to 10%. This trajectory had a strong impact on the intensification of the year-on-year evolution of rents, so that this indicator went from negative ground (-6.0%) in the 3rd quarter of 2021 to 23% in the 3rd quarter of this year. .
In Porto, the trajectory is similar, showing only a slight time lag. The recovery in housing rents began at the end of last year, after a year of declines. Since then, quarterly changes have always been above 3.5%, reaching that remarkable high of 10% and also culminating in the expressive acceleration of year-on-year changes. At the end of 2021, rents in Porto registered a 2% year-on-year decline, in stark contrast to the 24% year-on-year increase seen in the 3rd quarter of this year.
According to SIR-Rental, which monitors rents at all times on both markets, new leases concluded in Lisbon in the 3rd quarter reached an average of €16.8/m2 and in Porto, €12.6/m2. In any case, these are unprecedented levels.
