If house construction does not gain momentum in the country, everything indicates that house prices will continue to rise, especially because there is now an extra factor that stimulates demand: the fall in interest rates on mortgages.

In its most recent economic outlook, published in early December, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) details the rise in housing costs in the world's main advanced economies. Portugal recorded the fifth biggest increase in house prices, with an annual increase of 6.5% in October. Worse than Portugal is the United Kingdom (7.1%), Canada (7.1%), Australia (6.7%) and Latvia (6.6%).

“Housing supply has not kept up with population growth in recent years, caused by immigration. Strong demand for housing and the recovery in labour mobility after the pandemic have helped keep prices high (...) and generated strong increases in housing rents in several advanced economies, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Latvia and Portugal”, explains the OECD in the document. This happened despite monetary policy being restrictive in several countries – it should be noted that the European Central Bank (ECB) only started to lower interest rates in June, having carried out cuts of 100 points by December.