In the 1st quarter of 2020, the House Price Index (HPI) increased 10.3%, compared to the same period of 2019, 1.4 percentage points (pp) more than in the previous quarter. In this period, the prices of existing dwellings increased at a faster rate when compared with new dwellings, 10.6% and 8.9%, respectively.
In relation to the previous quarter, the HPI grew by 4.9% (0.7% in the 4th quarter 2019). The increase in prices was observed in both categories and was more expressive in the case of the new dwellings (6.0%) compared with the existing dwellings (4.7%).
A total of 43,532 dwellings were traded in the first three months of 2020, representing a year-on-year rate of change of -0.7% and a reduction of 11.6% compared to the previous quarter. In January and February 2020, the number of transactions increased by 9.4% and 3.5%, respectively, while in March it decreased by 14.1%. In this period, the value of the transactions reached 6.8 billion euros, 10.4% more than in the 1st quarter of 2019. While January and February 2020 showed increases of 21.5% and 13.5%, by the same order, in the value of sales, March recorded a rate of change of -3.3%.
Despite the circumstances determined by the pandemic COVID-19, Statistics Portugal will try to maintain the statistical production and release calendar, although some adjustments might occur associated with the impact of the pandemic in obtaining primary information. For this reason, Statistics Portugal asks for the best collaboration by firms, households and public entities in answering to Statistics Portugal‘s requests to obtain information, using Internet and telephone as alternative channels to face-to-face contacts. The quality of official statistics, particularly its ability to identify the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, depends crucially on this collaboration that Statistics Portugal is grateful for in advance.