Fewer people are looking for flats to rent: 18 enquiries per listing, 17% fewer than a year ago. In Lisbon, 32% fewer
From July to September, each rental listing on the property website idealista received an average of 18 messages and calls — 17% fewer than in the same months of 2025. Over the same period, rents rose by 6.1% (Jornal Económico).
Ruben Marques of idealista warns that renting has not become any easier: there are still far more people looking than there are flats, and every new listing attracts dozens of enquiries (Jornal Económico).
Among district capitals, demand fell most sharply in Lisbon (by 32%), Coimbra (29%), Porto and Portalegre (28%), Aveiro (22%) and Funchal (17%). Porto now has 11 enquiries per listing, and Aveiro and Viana do Castelo 12 each — the fewest of any district capital.
Competition is fiercest in Santarém, with 39 enquiries per listing, followed by Leiria (32), Castelo Branco (31), Faro (28), and Setúbal and Beja (27 each). Over the year, demand rose by 59% in Castelo Branco, 39% in Faro, and 13% in Leiria and Santarém.
Across whole districts, Setúbal leads with 30 enquiries per listing, followed by Santarém (26), Castelo Branco (23), and Évora and the island of São Miguel in the Azores (22 each). Demand rose in only four districts; it fell most in Beja (by 30%), Portalegre (23%), and Coimbra and Lisbon (22% each).
