The average home in Portugal costs €100,000 more than it did ten years ago.

The average home in Portugal costs €100,000 more than it did ten years ago. It's Thursday, 25 June. Twenty-seven degrees. Portugal play Colombia on Saturday night to decide who tops Group K. Here's what you need to know.

🌬️ AIR QUALITY: 22 (Good).

🗞️ TOP STORY

THE AVERAGE HOME IN PORTUGAL COSTS €100,000 MORE THAN IT DID A DECADE AGO.

Jornal de Negócios published the figure yesterday, and Observador ran it this morning: the average residential property price in Portugal has risen by approximately €100,000 over the past ten years. A single number that puts every housing story from the last three months into a frame you can see from across the room.

In 2016, you could buy an average Portuguese home for roughly €161,000. In 2026, that figure is around €261,000. In Lisbon, the gap is wider. In the Algarve, wider still. In the commuter belt (Setúbal, Sintra, Seixal, Barreiro), prices more than doubled. The Bank of Portugal's June Economic Bulletin confirmed that 157 regions across the country saw prices at least double between 2017 and 2025.

The causes are not a mystery. Chronic undersupply (the country needs 300,000 more homes, according to the central bank). A decade of record tourism that redirected housing stock into short-term rentals. Foreign investment through the Golden Visa programme. Rising construction costs. Population growth driven by immigration (28.8% of births in 2025 were to foreign mothers). And an economy that grew enough to sustain demand but not enough to fund the infrastructure needed to absorb it.

The consequences are visible on every apartment listing in the city. Lisbon is the least affordable city in Europe for renters. The average renter spends 99% of their net salary on a one-bedroom flat. Over one in four Portuguese falls below the poverty line when housing costs are included. The debt service-to-income ratio (DSTI) was tightened to 45%. Euribor rates are rising. And still, Portuguese consumers expect prices to climb another 7% in the next 12 months, nearly double the EU average.

For expats, the €100,000 figure lands differently depending on when you arrived. If you bought in 2016, your property is worth roughly double what you paid. If you arrived in 2024 and are still renting, the market you're trying to enter is the most expensive it has ever been, with the strictest lending rules in a decade.

Bottom line: €100,000. That is the cost of a decade of housing policy that built too little, licensed too many short-term rentals, and bet that demand would solve itself. It didn't.

⚡ QUICK HITS

Municipalities are being told to return EU recovery money for unfinished schools and health centres. The Associação Nacional de Municípios wrote to Montenegro yesterday warning that councils are being pressured to return Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) funds for projects that won't be completed by the August 31 deadline. Schools, health centres, public housing, and citizen service centres are all at risk. EU money that was supposed to rebuild Portuguese public infrastructure may have to go back to Brussels.

The Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR), Portugal's national gendarmerie, caught 66 drunk drivers on Lisbon access roads in four hours after Santo António. The early-morning blitz on June 14 across the A1, A2, A5, and Vasco da Gama bridge produced 66 detentions between 4am and 8am, up from 47 in the same operation during the 2025 festivities. Portugal's roads killed 589 people last year and enforcement is tightening. If you drove home from the arraiais after a few too many, you weren't the only one.

The Socialist Party (PS) says it won't close the door on Montenegro's sovereign wealth fund. On Tuesday, this newsletter reported the PM's announcement and the Liberal Initiative's fierce opposition. The PS, via deputy Miguel Costa Matos, signalled potential support with conditions, calling the initial proposal a "congress trick" lacking strategic substance. Because the government operates in a minority, this conditional nod from the PS provides the fund its only viable path through parliament.

Over 4 million people have had the same lightbulb moment.

Morning Brew is a free daily newsletter that breaks down what's happening in business, finance, and tech — clearly, quickly, and with enough personality to make it the best email in your inbox.

No yelling. No filler. Just the news, finally making sense.

Try it for free

A quick note: Today's ad is from our network partner Morning Brew. If it catches your eye, consider giving it a click. Those clicks directly support The Lisbon Letter and help us keep delivering free daily news, recommendations, and local discoveries to our community every morning. It takes a second, and it goes a surprisingly long way. Thanks for being part of this.

🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

NOOD CHIADO (CHIADO)

On a Thursday evening when you want something quick, flavourful, and uncomplicated before heading to the Terreiro do Paço fan zone for the evening's World Cup matches, Nood Chiado is the kind of spot that does exactly what it promises and doesn't pretend to be anything else.

Tucked behind Largo do Carmo on Rua da Trindade, the space is small, warm, and built for efficiency. The menu runs through the Asian greatest hits: pad thai, yaki soba, ramen, and the caril katsu don (crispy breaded chicken curry over jasmine rice) that reviewers consistently highlight as the standout. The portions are honest. The average spend is around €16 per person, which is competitive for the postcode.

The curry is the dish that keeps people coming back: a good balance of flavour, heat, and texture that feels like it was made by someone who actually eats curry rather than someone who read about it. The cocktail menu includes both classic and Asian-inspired options, plus wines, fresh juices, and tea. For a casual Thursday dinner, the format works: order, eat, be on your way within 45 minutes.

The service is fast and generally friendly, though reviews note it can vary depending on the shift. The room fills on weekend evenings. Thursday is calmer. They also have branches in Saldanha and Alcântara. Some reviewers prefer the Saldanha location for a more relaxed atmosphere, especially with children.

→ Quick, flavourful Asian food in the heart of Chiado. Find them here ←

Chiado, on Rua da Trindade, behind Largo do Carmo.

Insider tip: Go at 7pm on a Thursday. Order the caril katsu don and a jasmine tea. Be in and out in under an hour. The fan zone at Terreiro do Paço is a 10-minute walk downhill.

📅 WHAT'S ON

See you tomorrow morning.