The average price of housing in the Azores rose 42.60 percent in four years (2021-2025), from €169,582 to €241,839, placing the Azores among the eight regions with average prices above €200,000, according to a study by ERA Portugal to which our newspaper had access. This is one of the most significant increases at the national level.

According to ERA, between 2021 and 2025, there was a cross-cutting increase in the average price, including in the interior. However, it is in metropolitan and tourist areas that record prices are seen. Over the last four years, the regions with the highest average property price growth are: Madeira (+73%); Setúbal (+60%); Viana do Castelo (+55%); Lisbon (+54%); and Faro (+45%). The 73% increase in the Madeira region (average of €281,824 in 2025) is a result of residential tourism and foreign investment, particularly in Funchal and Caniço, according to ERA.

The increases of 60% in Setúbal (€246,987 in 2025) and 55% in Lisbon (€383,128) “are a consequence of market pressure due to intense demand for housing.” The increases in Viana do Castelo of 55% (€196,506) and 45% in Faro (€275,170) “represent the strengthening of tourism investment and the acquisition of second homes.”

This year, the most expensive regions, which exceed the average price of €200,000, are: Lisbon, Madeira, Faro, Setúbal, the Azores, Beja, Porto, and Braga. In contrast, in 2021, only Lisbon had an average price above €200,000.

Some regions stand out for their slower or even negative growth in average property prices. In Viseu, there was a negative price variation (-3%) associated with lower demand pressure and greater sensitivity to credit, a scenario similar to Guarda, with an increase of only +5%.

“Over the last four years, the trend has been towards price growth. Between 2021 and 2025, ERA’s national average price rose by around +40%, following the historical growth trend of this indicator in the Portuguese real estate market, which, according to Confidencial Imobiliário, recorded an increase of more than 35% in the average sale price per m² in the same period,” said Rui Torgal, CEO of ERA Portugal.

“As I have insisted over the last few years, this scenario is the result of a marked imbalance between intense demand, which continues to rise in Portugal, and the supply of available homes, which remains insufficient to meet market needs,” said the real estate expert.

According to Rui Torgal, “between 2012 and 2022, only half as many homes were built as in the previous decade, and now the country is paying the price. It is vital to build more, renovate more, streamline processes, reduce the tax burden, and create an environment that is conducive to the creation of the supply that will allow the market to self-regulate housing prices in our country.”

In Diário Insular-José Lourenço-director.

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.