Real estate developers anticipate a contraction in home sales and a brake on rising prices over the next three months, but are confident in the capacity of the residential market, according to the Portuguese Investment Property Survey, conducted by Confidencial Imobiliário and the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Promoters and Investors (APPII).

"Despite anticipating a contraction in housing sales and a brake on price rises for the next three months, real estate developers remain quite confident in the capacity of the residential market".

According to the latest survey, "the number of developers with new projects in the pipeline increased to 74%, a share similar to that of respondents who say they are actively looking for land for new developments. In any case, this is a record level in terms of investment intentions".

However, in the context of loss of purchasing power on the part of Portuguese families, respondents reveal the "lack of demand as the last obstacle to their activity".

"With a pressure index of just 26% (on a scale of 0 to 100%), since mid-2021 this is no longer a concern for these agents".

Even so, there is the prospect that the market will slow down in the short term, "with expectations regarding the evolution of sales in the 1st quarter of 2023 to be positioned at -57 points".

"It is the third consecutive quarter in which this indicator is in negative territory, but it is the first time, since the pandemic, that simultaneously generates expectations of a brake on price growth, with an indicator at -2 points. That is, the percentage of promoters that point to a drop in prices exceeds by 2% those that point to a rise".