Real estate careers in Portugal

The rules a broker must know

Public bodies

Brokerage is regulated nationally by IMPIC (Instituto dos Mercados Públicos, do Imobiliário e da Construção), the body that grants the AMI mediation licence, keeps the public register of licensed firms, collects the annual regulation fee and supervises agencies' anti-money laundering duties under Law 83/2017. Law 15/2013 still names its predecessor, InCI, as the competent authority. Around it, the Tax and Customs Authority (AT, Portal das Finanças) issues tax numbers and collects IMT, stamp duty, IMI and AIMI; the land registry offices (Conservatórias do Registo Predial) and notaries record deeds; AIMA handles residence permits for foreigners since it took over that work from SEF; Turismo de Portugal runs the national register of short-term rentals (RNAL); and INE and the Banco de Portugal publish the main price and mortgage statistics

Licence

Real estate mediation can only be carried out in Portugal by a licensed mediation firm and under a contract (Law 15/2013, Article 3). Any provider established in Portugal, whether a company or an individual trading in their own name (empresário em nome individual), needs a licence from IMPIC, the licence number known as AMI. The law sets only two conditions: commercial good standing (idoneidade comercial) and civil liability insurance of at least EUR 150,000, or an equivalent financial guarantee. Good standing is lost, for example, after insolvency without a court-approved plan, or when a legal representative has a final prison sentence from the last five years for fraud, breach of trust, corruption or money laundering. When Law 15/2013 replaced the older regime it dropped the positive equity requirement and the proof of clean tax and social security status. IMPIC's fees are EUR 100 for the licence and EUR 265 for the annual regulation fee (prorated in the first year), and it must decide within 20 days, with tacit approval if it does not. Licences have no expiry date, but every January the holder must pay the annual fee and prove again that it meets the requirements (criminal record certificate for each legal representative, valid insurance and, for companies, the commercial registry code); for 2026 the payment deadline was 20 February 2026, and failing to pay or to prove the requirements leads to cancellation. Firms already licensed in another EEA country can register with IMPIC to set up in Portugal, or notify IMPIC within 60 days of a first occasional service.

Who can be an agent

The licence is held by the firm, not by each salesperson. Law 15/2013 recognises two kinds of staff working for a licensed firm: mediation technicians (técnicos de mediação imobiliária), who carry out the mediation work in the firm's name, and angariadores, who help prepare and execute mediation contracts. Neither needs an AMI licence of their own, but each must carry an identification card issued by the firm with their name, photo and the firm's details, and the firm must keep a file of their employment or service contracts. Only the firm's legal representatives receive IMPIC identity cards. The law defines a mediation firm by domicile or seat in an EEA state (a company must also be formed under EEA law), not by nationality, so a foreigner living legally in Portugal can open a sole-trader licence or run a licensed company. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens can live and work freely and register their residence with the local council (Câmara Municipal) after three months. Non-EU nationals need a residence permit that allows employed or self-employed work, issued by AIMA. Since Law 61/2025 (in force 23 October 2025) the old route of entering as a visitor and regularising through an expression of interest is gone: the right visa must be obtained before travel, then AIMA has nine months, in principle, to decide on the residence permit. The generic job-seeker visa was replaced by a 120-day visa for skilled work.

Brokerage rules

The mediation contract (contrato de mediação imobiliária) must be in writing and must state the property and any charges on it, the deal sought, the fee (fixed or percentage), how it is paid and the VAT rate, the insurance policy, any angariador involved, any extra services, and the exclusivity terms and their effects. If no term is set the contract lasts six months, standard-form contracts must first be validated by the consumer authority (Direção-Geral do Consumidor), and a contract missing these elements is void, although only the client can invoke that. The fee falls due when the deal is concluded or, if the contract says so, when the promissory contract (CPCV) is signed; under exclusivity the firm is also paid if the deal fails through the owner's fault. The law bars a firm from being paid by both its client and the other party in the same deal, and money received from a buyer before the CPCV is held in custody and must be returned on request. In September 2026 the usual sale commission was 4% to 5% plus 23% VAT (a 3% to 6% range overall), often with a minimum fee of around EUR 6,000 plus VAT; for rentals the norm is one month's rent plus VAT paid by the landlord, and on new builds the developer usually pays (BoaVenda). Every office, contract, advert and piece of correspondence must show the firm's name and AMI licence number, and each office needs a complaints book. Under anti-money laundering Law 83/2017 and IMPIC Regulation 603/2021, firms must identify clients, keep records, train staff, report the start of their real estate activity to IMPIC, and file quarterly reports on every sale they handle and every lease with a rent of EUR 2,500 or more a month.

Foreign buyers

Portugal sets no nationality restrictions on buying property: residents and non-residents buy on the same terms, and the buyer needs a Portuguese tax number (NIF); people living outside the EU or EEA must appoint a tax representative to obtain it (Global Citizen Solutions, October 2026). The golden visa no longer accepts property: Law 56/2023 (Mais Habitação) removed real estate purchases and the plain capital transfer route from 7 October 2023. The remaining routes include EUR 500,000 in a qualifying Portuguese investment fund that does not invest in real estate, a EUR 500,000 investment in a company creating five jobs, ten jobs created, EUR 500,000 for scientific research and EUR 250,000 for arts and culture. Organic Law 1/2026, in force since 19 May 2026, raised the residence needed for naturalisation from five to seven years for EU and CPLP nationals and to ten years for others, with applications already pending kept under the old law. The non-habitual resident (NHR) tax regime closed to new entrants after 2023 and was replaced by IFICI, which offers a 20% income tax rate on qualifying Portuguese work income and an exemption on most foreign income for ten years, but only for people who become resident to carry out qualifying scientific research or innovation activities, register in advance and were not resident in the previous five years. In 2025, INE counted 8,471 home purchases by buyers with a tax domicile abroad, down 13.3% and the third yearly fall in a row, worth EUR 3.4 billion; EU-based buyers paid an average of EUR 335,640 and buyers from elsewhere EUR 470,277, against EUR 234,120 for residents.

Tax and fees

The buyer pays IMT (property transfer tax) and stamp duty. For 2026 the mainland IMT brackets were raised 2%: on a permanent own home the rate is 0% up to EUR 106,346, then marginal rates of 2%, 5%, 7% and 8% up to EUR 660,982, a single 6% rate up to EUR 1,150,853 and 7.5% above; second homes start at 1% and follow the same steps, while other urban property pays 6.5% and rural land 5% (PwC Tax Guide 2026). The Azores and Madeira set their own bracket limits. Buyers aged 35 or under purchasing a first permanent home pay no IMT or stamp duty up to EUR 330,539, and only 8% IMT on the part above it up to EUR 660,982. Since 25 May 2026, Decree-law 97/2026 applies a flat 7.5% IMT to non-residents buying a home; it does not apply to buyers who were tax resident in Portugal before, and it can be refunded if the buyer becomes resident within two years or lets the home at a moderate rent (up to EUR 2,300 a month) within six months and for at least 36 months in the first five years. Stamp duty is 0.8% of the price, plus 0.6% of a mortgage of five years or more. Through the state Casa Pronta service, deed and registration cost EUR 375 for a cash purchase and EUR 700 with bank financing, while private notary or solicitor fees usually run EUR 200 to EUR 500 plus registry fees (Literacia Financeira, September 2026). Owners pay yearly IMI of 0.3% to 0.45% of the tax value of urban property (set by each municipality), and individuals with residential property worth more than EUR 600,000 (EUR 1.2 million for couples filing jointly) also pay AIMI at 0.7%, rising to 1% and 1.5% on higher bands; companies pay 0.4% and entities in tax havens 7.5%.

Off-plan

Off-plan purchases are signed through a promissory contract of sale (contrato-promessa de compra e venda, CPCV) before the final deed. It must be written, with the signatures certified in person by a notary, lawyer, solicitor or registry office, and the person certifying must confirm that a construction or use licence exists. The deposit (sinal) has no legal amount; if the buyer walks away it is lost, and if the seller defaults the buyer can claim double the deposit or ask a court for specific performance, a right that cannot be waived in a property CPCV (Literacia Financeira, October 2026). Portugal has no general law forcing developers to guarantee off-plan payments, so buyers should negotiate a bank guarantee or insurance bond covering the deposit and instalments, tie payments to construction stages, and check the land registry, the building licence and the developer's company records; if the developer becomes insolvent without the keys having been handed over, the buyer is only an ordinary creditor. Deposits at CPCV are often 10% to 30% of the price, with the balance paid in stages and at the deed (The Portugal News, May 2026). Decree-law 97/2026 also cuts VAT on building new homes from 23% to 6% from 1 July 2026 (optionally from 1 January 2026) when they are sold as a permanent own home for up to about EUR 660,982 or let at moderate rents, and a buyer who does not use such a home as a permanent residence pays an extra 10% IMT.

Rentals

Short-term rentals (alojamento local, AL) must be registered on the national RNAL register. Mais Habitação (Law 56/2023) had frozen new AL registrations in apartments, limited registrations to five years and created an extraordinary AL contribution (CEAL); Decree-law 76/2024 of 23 October 2024 reversed those measures, made registrations transferable again and handed control to the municipalities, which can adopt AL regulations with containment and sustainable growth areas and oppose new registrations within 60 days (90 in containment areas). Condominiums can no longer cancel an AL on their own: owners holding more than half of the building's permilage can pass a reasoned objection over repeated disturbance, and the mayor decides. Lisbon and Porto both apply containment areas (see city entries). Long-term leases must be written and, for permanent housing, last between one and 30 years; contracts of more than three years renew for the same period and shorter ones for three years unless agreed otherwise, and the deposit is capped at two months' rent. The landlord can raise rent once a year by the INE coefficient with 30 days' written notice: 1.0224 (2.24%) for 2026 and 1.0256 (2.56%) for 2027, published on 1 October 2026. Until the end of 2029, the rent on a new contract for a home let in the previous five years can exceed the old rent by no more than 2%, with some exceptions. Rental income is taxed at 25% by default (less for long contracts), and from 2026 at 10% for housing lets up to EUR 2,300 a month under Decree-law 97/2026.

Platforms

IMPIC (AMI mediation licences, annual regulation fee, public register of licensed firms)IMPIC anti-money laundering portal (Law 83/2017 start-of-activity and quarterly transaction reports)Portal das Finanças / AT (NIF, IMT, stamp duty, IMI, AIMI, caderneta predial, IFICI registration)Land registry (Conservatória do Registo Predial, certidão permanente)Casa Pronta (one-stop deed and registration service)AIMA (residence permits for non-EU nationals, successor to SEF)Local council (Câmara Municipal) for EU citizen registration certificates, building licences and AL rulesRNAL, the national short-term rental register (Turismo de Portugal)Direção-Geral do Consumidor (validation of standard mediation contracts) and Livro de ReclamaçõesINE housing price statistics and Banco de Portugal mortgage data