After facing a high influx of foreigners arriving to live in sunny Lisbon, the Portuguese capital is now often mentioned on the news due to the increase in rental prices. But how have these prices evolved across the years? And how has the rental market in the city recovered from the pandemic years?
We took a deep dive into CASAFARI’s real estate database, the largest, cleanest and most organised in Europe, to find out how the situation of rents in Lisbon. Our team researched a total of 53,887 properties from 821 different sources to show you the behaviour of rental prices for 2-bedroom properties. Take a look at our findings!
Pre-pandemic period: how were rents in Lisbon back then?
In 2018, rents in Lisbon were already booming: the average prices per square metre varied from €23 in the most expensive areas to €10 in the most affordable ones. In the following year, a slight reduction in prices was felt in the most expensive neighbourhoods, with a total of €21 per square metre, while the most affordable raised to 11€.
Taking into account a two-bedroom apartment of 70m², this would mean prices between €700 and €1,610 for 2018, whereas prices for properties of the same size varied from €770 to €1,470 for 2019.
2020-2021: the impact of the pandemic
As expected, the coronavirus pandemic hit the property market hard. Holiday rentals became empty for months, while long-term rentals were affected by the financial instability, with families holding their decisions of moving to another property due to insecurity.
That being said, the Portuguese property market felt the effects of this major event, but without monumental changes to prices, showing signs of great resilience.
Rents in Lisbon plummeted to €19 per square metre in the most expensive areas and to €11 in the least ones during the year of 2020. The following year saw another drop, reaching €18 and €10 respectively.
What does it mean? That while the pricey neighbourhoods suffered significant drops in rent, the inexpensive ones remained stable. Looking back at our example of an apartment with 70m², in 2020 the rent for such property cost from €770 to €1,330, while in 2021 it ranged from €700 to €1,260.
The recovery in 2022 and the current scenario
And how was the recovery after such a drop in prices? Well, it was actually steady!
During the year of 2022, the costly areas of the city reached up to €23 per square metre in rents, returning to the same level of 2018, whereas the most economical neighbourhoods registered the price of €11/m².
On the other hand, 2023 surprised old and new residents with a peak for rents in Lisbon: the expensive areas climbed up to €28/m² (considering data from January to July) and even the traditionally affordable neighbourhoods raised their average to €14/m².
This can be a result of both an increased influx of digital nomads moving to the city and property owners trying to make up for the losses of the previous years.
The most expensive and the most affordable neighbourhoods
Across time, a few areas of the city remained on the top or bottom positions when it comes to prices for a two-bedroom apartment.
Among the most affordable were Beato, Lumiar, Marvila, Santa Clara, Carnide, São Domingos de Benfica and Olivais. As per the most expensive, the neighbourhoods of Santo António, Misericórdia, Santa Maria Maior, Avenidas Novas, Estrela and Campo de Ourique were the ones where rents in Lisbon would be the highest.
Interested in receiving more in-depth market reports? Get in touch with us: commercial@casafari.com.
