Portugal saw asking prices for homes rise at an unprecedented pace over the past year, especially in the major cities, pushing them to levels even higher than those recorded over the last decade. Even so, interest in living near Lisbon, Porto and other large urban centres has not waned – after all, these are the areas with the greatest supply of jobs, schools, hospitals, services, transport and leisure options. This is precisely what the latest data from idealista reveal: the municipalities on the outskirts of the Portuguese capital continue to be the most sought-after for buying a home, despite the fact that the cost of homeownership has increased and can exceed 300,000 euros.
There is no way around it. The municipalities surrounding Lisbon are the ones that generate the strongest desire among families to purchase housing, even though they 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 home in Portugal in the fourth quarter of 2025, compiled from idealista/data figures.
Amadora ranks first, being the most sought-after municipality of all for buying a home, followed by Oeiras, Moita, Vila Franca de Xira, Odivelas, Barreiro, Sintra, Loures, Alenquer and Torres Vedras. The municipality of Lisbon itself appears in 11th place.
One must go down to 16th position to find the northern municipality that generates the greatest appeal: Valongo, in the district of Porto. In addition to this, eight other municipal territories near the Invicta metropolis stand out in this demand ranking: Maia, Paredes, Gondomar, Vila do Conde, Matosinhos, Penafiel and Paços de Ferreira — with Porto itself appearing at the very bottom of the list analysed.
Also among the last places in this housing demand ranking are six municipalities in the Algarve: Vila Real de Santo António, Portimão, Tavira, Olhão, Silves and Albufeira. High house prices, which exceed 420,000 euros in these municipalities located in southern Portugal, may help explain these results. The municipality of Faro is even outside this top list (68th place), with housing costs reaching almost 750,000 euros, driven by the region’s characteristic profile as a tourist area with strong foreign investment.
These idealista/data figures therefore once again suggest that interest in homes for sale in the peripheral rings of Lisbon, Porto and Faro strengthened at the end of 2025. This can be explained by the fact that these locations offer lower residential property prices than the urban centres themselves. However, in these bordering municipalities, housing costs are also climbing due to a contagion effect and because housing supply continues to be insufficient to meet demand.
Buying a home in Portugal: the 50 most sought-after municipalities
Data for the 4th quarter of 2025
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Table with 3 columns and 50 rows. Currently displaying rows 1 to 15. (column headers with buttons are sortable)
Ranking – Municipality – District
1st – Amadora – Lisbon
2nd – Oeiras – Lisbon
3rd – Moita – Setúbal
4th – Vila Franca de Xira – Lisbon
5th – Odivelas – Lisbon
6th – Barreiro – Setúbal
7th – Sintra – Lisbon
8th – Loures – Lisbon
9th – Alenquer – Lisbon
10th – Torres Vedras – Lisbon
11th – Lisbon – Lisbon
12th – Palmela – Setúbal
13th – Almada – Setúbal
14th – Benavente – Santarém
15th – Santarém – Santarém
Source: idealista/data
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House prices in the most sought-after municipalities
The top 10 in housing demand is entirely dominated by municipalities on the outskirts of the Portuguese capital, where asking prices for homes 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).
These figures therefore suggest that even high house prices do not discourage families from the idea of buying near Lisbon. It is worth remembering that home purchases are currently supported by lower mortgage interest rates and government assistance for younger buyers up to the age of 35 (IMT exemption and public guarantee).
Alenquer, Barreiro and Moita are among the nine municipalities in this top 50 that deviate from the rule, with median asking prices below 300,000 euros. At national level, and outside the Greater Lisbon area, the cheapest municipality among those that generate the most interest for buying is Castelo Branco (still only in 40th position), where the median cost of purchasing a home stood at 155,000 euros at the end of last year.
Taking into account the same idealista/data figures, it can be concluded that the vast majority of the most sought-after municipalities in Portugal for buying a home have median values above 300,000 euros. Among these, there are 11 municipalities where the median purchase price exceeds 500,000 euros. The most expensive of all among the most sought-after is Cascais, where the median cost of buying a home reached almost 1.4 million euros at the end of 2025. Just a few kilometres away, in second place, is the neighbouring municipality of Oeiras (738,000 euros), followed by Lisbon (715,000 euros).
There are, however, examples of municipalities that are expensive for buying a home but generate less interest because they are only within reach of those with greater purchasing power. This is the case of Albufeira, which ranked 48th in the demand ranking, with a median housing price of over 700,000 euros. Silves is another example: it was the 45th most sought-after, with purchase costs hovering around 564,000 euros. The last in the demand ranking, the municipality of Porto, has house prices of around 474,000 euros.
Most expensive municipalities to buy a home among the 50 most sought-after
Data for the 4th quarter of 2025
Median house prices (euros)
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Table with 4 columns and 50 rows. Currently displaying rows 1 to 18. (column headers with buttons are sortable)
Demand ranking – Municipality – District/island – Price (euros)
29th – Cascais – Lisbon – 1,387,666
2nd – Oeiras – Lisbon – 738,105
11th – Lisbon – Lisbon – 714,982
48th – Albufeira – Faro – 707,654
39th – Mafra – Lisbon – 604,217
34th – Tavira – Faro – 566,203
45th – Silves – Faro – 564,608
13th – Almada – Setúbal – 527,857
7th – Sintra – Lisbon – 521,931
8th – Loures – Lisbon – 511,122
42nd – Olhão – Faro – 502,660
30th – Portimão – Faro – 486,156
50th – Porto – Porto – 474,056
33rd – Matosinhos – Porto – 473,492
23rd – Setúbal – Setúbal – 472,116
5th – Odivelas – Lisbon – 470,798
12th – Palmela – Setúbal – 470,518
43rd – Sesimbra – Setúbal – 468,054
Source: idealista/data
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Methodology
We calculated the ranking of the most sought-after municipalities during the fourth quarter of 2025 among those with more than 500 listings of homes for sale on idealista (Southern Europe’s real estate marketplace). We then analysed the median prices of the 50 most sought-after municipalities for buying a home in Portugal.