There are fewer and fewer homes to rent in Portugal, and supply just dropped 22%
Long-term rental supply in Portugal fell 22% in the second quarter of 2026. Coimbra and Porto led the drop — here's where there's less, and where it grew.
Anyone hunting for a place to rent in Portugal already knows the feeling: fewer listings, brutal competition. Now the numbers back it up. The supply of long-term rental homes in Portugal fell 22% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier, down to 40,716 available properties. Less supply, more applicants per door, and rents that keep climbing.
Where did rental supply fall the most?
The squeeze isn’t uniform. Coimbra shrank the most, with 58% fewer homes to rent, followed by Porto (-52%) and Lisbon (-27%). Leiria (-9%), Portalegre (-8%) and Braga (-5%) round out the falls. Oddly, it wasn’t all downhill: in 14 of the 20 areas analysed supply actually rose, led by Beja (+65%), the island of Madeira (+50%) and Bragança (+44%).
Why are there fewer homes to rent?
It’s a stack of reasons. Many landlords still prefer short-term lets and local lodging, which pay better, over signing long leases; others are simply waiting to understand the new rules before putting a home on the market. The upshot is a smaller pool for people who need a roof every month — especially in cities where students and workers chase the same key.
On the rules side, the Government has already reshaped the market with the reform that froze rent increases on new contracts and tightened eviction timelines. If you want to know what help exists when the problem is genuinely urgent, see the new Housing Emergency Fund and who is left out. Official data on housing and rents lives on Portugal’s Housing Portal.
Infographic: Tugadaily · data idealista
