The April 2017 RICS/Ci PHMS results point to prices rising at the fastest monthly pace since the survey was formed in 2010 (in net balance terms). This rising pressure on prices is in part linked to the first reported fall in new instructions since December 2016. A similar picture is depicted in the lettings market, where strong demand is being met by a continued decline in new landlord instructions.
New buyer enquiries again posted a solid increase during April, as a net balance of 35% more respondents noted a pick-up in demand. Furthermore, since the start of 2017, demand growth has been consistently stronger than that reported throughout much of 2016. Sales growth also remains firm, with respondents citing an increase in agreed sales for the sixteenth month in succession (albeit at a marginally slower pace than in March). When disaggregated, transactions continue to rise smartly across all three regions covered by the survey (Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve) although near term sales expectations have softened somewhat in Porto and the Algarve. Nonetheless, expectations remain comfortably positive in each case.
Source : RICS