High demand for Lisbon’s outskirts remains high among home hunters

Portugal has seen house prices rise at an unprecedented rate in the last year, especially in major cities, placing them at even higher levels than had been recorded over the past decade.

But this hasn’t diminished the interest in living near Lisbon, Porto, and other major urban centers – after all, that’s where there are more job opportunities, schools, hospitals, services, transportation, and leisure activities.

That’s exactly what the latest data from idealista reveals: municipalities on the outskirts of the Portuguese capital continue to be the most sought-after places to buy a home, despite the cost of owning a home being higher, potentially exceeding 300,000 euros.

There’s no going back. It’s the municipalities surrounding Lisbon that generate the greatest desire among families to buy housing, although these are also the ones with the highest prices. Proof of this is that they occupy 10 of the top positions in the ranking of the 50 most sought-after municipalities for buying a house in Portugal in the fourth quarter of 2025, compiled from data by idealista/data.

Amadora appears in first place, being the most sought-after municipality for buying a house, followed by Oeiras, Moita, Vila Franca de Xira, Odivelas, Barreiro, Sintra, Loures, Alenquer, and Torres Vedras. The municipality of Lisbon appears in 11th place.

You would need to go down to 16th position to find the municipality in the north of the country that generates the most attraction: Valongo, in the Porto district. In addition to this, eight other municipalities near the metropolis of Porto stand out in this ranking of demand: Maia, Paredes, Gondomar, Vila do Conde, Matosinhos, Penafiel, Paços de Ferreira – with Porto itself appearing last on the list analysed.

Also among the lowest-ranked municipalities in this housing demand ranking are six Algarve municipalities: Vila Real de Santo António, Portimão, Tavira, Olhão, Silves, and Albufeira. The high house prices, exceeding €420,000 in these municipalities located in southern Portugal, may help explain the results. The municipality of Faro is even outside this top ranking (68th place), with housing costs approaching €750,000, driven by the region’s characteristic profile as a tourist area with strong foreign investment.

These data from idealista/data suggest once again that interest in houses for sale in the outer rings of Lisbon, Porto, and Faro was reinforced at the end of 2025, which can be explained by the fact that these locations have lower residential property prices than the urban centers themselves. But also in these bordering municipalities, the cost of housing is escalating due to a contagion effect, and because the housing supply continues to be insufficient to meet demand.

The top 10 most sought-after housing areas are completely dominated by municipalities on the outskirts of the Portuguese capital, where the price of houses for sale can exceed 300,000 euros. This is the case in Amadora (324,000 euros), Vila Franca de Xira (414,000 euros), Torres Vedras (449,000 euros), Odivelas (471,000 euros), Loures (511,000 euros), Sintra (522,000 euros) and Oeiras (738,000 euros). The only exceptions are Barreiro (295,000 euros), Moita (281,000 euros) and Alenquer (269,000 euros).

Source: Idealista;  Image: Ian McKay for Unsplash