Portugal’s average rent for new tenancy agreements reached a record €10.17 per square metre in the second quarter of 2026, up 10.2% from a year earlier, according to data from Portugal’s National Statistics Institute (INE) reported by idealista/news. The increase was nationwide: rents rose in all 24 municipalities tracked by INE, and the Q2 figure is the highest since the INE series began in 2020, based on 35,407 new rental contracts.
Lisbon remains the most expensive large rental market at €17.79 per square metre, followed by Cascais (€17.50) and Oeiras (€16.12); Porto averaged €14.66. But annual growth in Lisbon (+5.1%) and Porto (+5.5%) was slower than in several smaller regions. The sharpest increases were recorded well outside the two big cities: Alentejo Litoral, on the Alentejo coast, saw rents jump 21.6% year-on-year to €9.84 per square metre — the fastest rise in the country — while Guimarães rose 20.7% to €7.87 and Madeira climbed 17.4% to €12.78. Even Terras de Trás-os-Montes, Portugal’s cheapest rental market at €4.42 per square metre, rose 17.6% over the year. For people relocating to Portugal, that means the biggest cities stay the most expensive in absolute terms, but secondary regions and the islands are closing the gap fastest — in percentage terms, rents outside Lisbon and Porto are climbing faster than inside them.
Greater Lisbon and the Porto Metropolitan Area together accounted for 45.1% of all new rental contracts signed nationally during the quarter, keeping much of the rental market concentrated in the two main urban areas even as prices rise faster elsewhere. New-contract activity rose fastest in Alentejo Litoral (+13.5%), while it fell in Greater Porto (-5.0%), including drops in Matosinhos (-14.0%) and Maia (-13.2%) — a sign of fewer new lettings rather than necessarily weaker demand.
Portugal’s government had scheduled a parliamentary debate and vote on 30 September 2026 on a rental-law reform package that would allow faster evictions for unpaid rent, end existing rent controls, and change terms for older rental contracts; the stated aim, per the proposal, is to encourage more private owners to put homes back on the rental market.
References
idealista/news – Portugal Rents Hit Record High as Prices Rise Across the Country
