Real estate careers in Lisbon

The market in Lisbon

Lisbon had Portugal's highest median sale price in Q1 2026 at EUR 5,292 per sqm (INE), and buyers with a tax address abroad paid about 26% more per sqm than domestic buyers in the twelve months to March 2026.

Lisbon is Portugal's most expensive market and its main hub for international buyers, tech firms and relocating professionals, with the Cascais, Estoril and Oeiras coast as its upmarket suburbs. INE put the city's median sale price at EUR 5,292 per sqm in Q1 2026, the highest of any large municipality, and EUR 5,082 over the twelve months to March 2026 (up 15.2%), while Grande Lisboa as a whole reached EUR 3,836 in Q1 2026. Asking prices are higher: idealista put Lisbon city at EUR 6,256 per sqm in September 2026, up 4.4% in a year. Rents are also the highest in the country, with a median of EUR 17.79 per sqm per month on new leases in Q2 2026 (INE). Short-term rentals are now tightly limited in the historic centre under the city's amended AL regulation, in force since 6 December 2025.

Foreign buyers

Confidencial Imobiliário counted 1,392 homes bought by foreigners in Lisbon's urban rehabilitation area in 2025, 12% fewer than in 2024 and the lowest since 2017, but the average ticket rose about 10% to some EUR 632,000 and buyers came from 64 countries. Americans led with 222 purchases, ahead of Brazilians (157), French (153), British (94), Chinese (85) and Germans (68). Over the twelve months to March 2026, buyers with a tax address abroad paid a median of EUR 6,325 per sqm in Lisbon, against EUR 5,000 for domestic buyers (INE). Grande Lisboa took 12.5% of all non-resident home purchases in Portugal in 2025, down 2.8 points (INE). Engel & Völkers' Market Report Portugal 2025-2026 puts foreign buyers at about 81% of purchases in Cascais, with Brazilians, Russians and Americans prominent (reported by Postal, July 2026).

Main neighbourhoods

Baixa, Chiado and Santa Maria Maior (historic centre)Santo António (Avenida da Liberdade, Príncipe Real)Misericórdia (Bairro Alto, Cais do Sodré)Estrela, Lapa and Campo de OuriqueAvenidas Novas and AlvaladeParque das NaçõesBelém and ResteloAlcântaraMarvila and Beato (eastern riverside)CascaisEstorilOeiras

Agent 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. The full guide