Around 10% of the houses bought in the Algarve in the first quarter were advertised on Idealista for less than a week.
An announcement from Idealista this week claimed that ‘express sales’ were the new trend in the Algarve property market as demand out-stripped supply.
According to an analysis of data published by Idealista, 11% of listings were on the market between two weeks and a month, 19% between one and three months, 46% between three months and a year, and 14% more than a year.
“Analysing ‘express sales’ – i.e. residential properties that sell in less than a week, which takes into account the length of time the adverts have been up – by district capitals, Faro is where we find the highest percentage, 33% of homes are sold in this period,” says idealista in a statement.
House sales in Portugal fell in 2023, largely due to the short supply of affordable housing, high interest rates on home loans and the difficulty of saving money in a context of high inflation. But Idealista claims that 2024 could see a turning point, as interest rates on housing are falling and there is new support for buying a home, such as the IMT exemption for young people.
The truth is more likely that the speedy sales are related to houses that suit the budget and the needs of families and are therefore sold more quickly. Perhaps that’s why around 11 per cent of the houses for sale advertised on Idealista in the first quarter of the year were on the market for less than a week.
In contrast, 22% of these homes for sale were on the market for between two weeks and one month, 24% for between one and three months, 34% for between three months and one year and 9% for more than one year, according to an analysis of data published by idealista, the southern European property marketplace.
The list of large cities with the highest percentage of express house sales continues with Portalegre (25%), Porto (15%), Braga (14%), Évora (14%), Setúbal (14%), Vila Real (14%), Castelo Branco (13%), Coimbra (11%) and Leiria (11%). Below the national average are Lisbon (10%), Viana do Castelo (10%), Ponta Delgada (9%), Santarém (9%) and Funchal (8%).
The district capital with the fewest “express” house sales was Viseu (3%). In Aveiro and Beja, only 7% of transactions took place in less than seven days in the first quarter. In Bragança and Guarda, no houses were sold in that period.
