The phenomenon of “express house sales” is growing more and more, reaching considerable levels in the country’s main cities. At least, that’s the conclusion of an analysis by the idealista property portal.
In a statement, the portal said that “around 10 per cent of the houses for sale advertised on idealista in September left the market in less than a week”, with the city of Faro registering the highest number of “express sales”, with 33 per cent of houses sold in that period. “This was followed by Évora (22 per cent), Coimbra (16 per cent), Funchal (14 per cent), Santarém (10 per cent) and Porto (10 per cent),” says the portal. Surprisingly, Lisbon and Braga are below the national average, with 8 per cent and 7 per cent of homes, respectively, coming off the market in less than a week.
On the other hand, Viana do Castelo, Viseu and Beja are the main cities with the fewest “express sales”.
At a national level, the picture changes
If the analysis is extended to the district level, it is on the island of Madeira and in the districts of Porto and Aveiro that the most houses were sold in less than a week. In all three cases, the average is 13 per cent of homes advertised. Faro (12%), Évora (12%), Aveiro (9%), Lisbon (8%), Setúbal (8%), Leiria (8%), Guarda (7%), Santarém (6%), Bragança (6%), Castelo Branco (6%) and Braga (6%) are the next districts. At the bottom of the table are Viana do Castelo (5%), Viseu (4%) and Beja (3%).
Despite these figures and the growth of the phenomenon, the truth is that “express sales” are only a small part of the market. According to the portal, 26 per cent of homes remain on the market for “between one and three months” and 37 per cent remain on the market for “between three months and a year”. 8% of flats remain on the market for more than a year.