Families spending 70% of their salaries on average on mortgages

Families in Portugal are continuing to face increasing difficulties in paying the mortgages and rents on their homes.

When it comes to rents in Funchal, the amount of income to pay for the home (effort rates) can be as much as 93% while Faro is 90% and Lisbon 84% out of 20 cities studied.

The share of family household income needed to pay rents was lowest in Porto (69%), Setúbal (67%), Ponta Delgada (58%), Braga (57%), Aveiro (55%), Viana do Castelo (55%), Évora (52%), Santarém (52%), Leiria (50%), Coimbra (45%), Vila Real (43%) and Viseu (42%).

On the other hand, rents weigh less on family income in Bragança (39%), Beja (37%) and Castelo Branco (36%). The only cities with effort rates close to the recommended limit of 33% are Portalegre (34%) and Guarda (34%).

In turn, Lisbon is where the purchase of housing represents the greatest financial effort, with an effort rate of 113%, followed by Funchal (102%) and Faro (97%). Next are Aveiro (77%), Porto (72%), Ponta Delgada (65%), Braga (62%), Viana do Castelo (60%), Setúbal (58%), Leiria (58%), Coimbra (54%), Évora (45%), Santarém (45%) and Viseu (41%).

Conversely, six district capitals have effort rates equal to or lower than the recommended limit of 33%. Guarda (18%), Portalegre (21%), Castelo Branco (22%), Beja (26%), Bragança (27%) and Vila Real (31%).

Source: Jornal Económico; Image of Funchal: Kirill Khripunov for Unsplash