Key figures — as of 2026-08-29: National median bank valuation of housing hit a record €2,240/m² in July 2026, up 15.2% year-on-year (INE) — Algarve apartments crossed €3,010/m² in July, up from €2,988/m² in June — Algarve valuations now sit 32.6% above the national median at NUTS III level, second only to Grande Lisboa's 51.7% premium — Centro and Alentejo remain cheapest, at €1,739/m² and €1,778/m².
The threshold that just fell
Portugal's bank-assessed housing values keep climbing, but the Algarve just crossed a psychological line. INE's Inquérito à Avaliação Bancária na Habitação for July 2026 shows the national median valuation reaching an all-time high of €2,240 per square metre, a rise INE attributed to a jump of 2.240 euros por metro quadrado em julho, mais 12 euros do que no mês anterior e 15,2% acima do mês homólogo de 2025. Within that national figure, the Algarve's apartment segment did something it hadn't done before: it broke through €3,000/m². INE's regional breakdown puts os valores mais elevados foram observados na Grande Lisboa (3.469 euros/m2) e no Algarve (3.010 euros/m2), tendo o Centro e o Alentejo apresentado os valores mais baixos (1.739 euros/m2 e 1.778 euros/m2, respetivamente).
That's a fast climb. Just a month earlier, in June, o Algarve registou em junho a segunda avaliação bancária mais elevada do país tanto nos apartamentos, com 2.988 euros por metro quadrado, como nas moradias, com 2.795 euros, num mês em que a mediana nacional atingiu o recorde de 2.228 euros. Twenty-two euros separated the Algarve from the round number in June; by July it was over the line.
The gap, not just the level
What matters for anyone weighing up where in Portugal still offers relative value isn't only the Algarve's raw price — it's how far it now sits above everywhere else. INE's regional index, calculated at NUTS III level, shows a Grande Lisboa, o Algarve e a Península de Setúbal voltaram a apresentar em julho os valores de avaliação mais elevados face à mediana do país em 51,7%, 32,6% e 24,2%, respetivamente. Nationally, the apartment segment specifically averaged 2.627 euros por metro quadrado (euros/m2), mais 16,5% do que em julho de 2025 — meaning Algarve apartments are running well above even that inflated national apartment figure. Meanwhile the fastest year-on-year mover wasn't the Algarve at all: em comparação com julho de 2025, a variação mais acentuada ocorreu na Península de Setúbal (20,4%), não se tendo observado qualquer redução, a sign that price pressure is spilling outward from Lisbon's commuter belt as much as it is concentrating on the coast.
GrowIN's calculation: what the gap actually costs
Here's the practical translation. Take a typical 100m² apartment. At July's national median of €2,240/m², a bank would value that flat at €224,000. At the Algarve's €3,010/m² apartment median, the same-sized flat gets valued at €301,000 — a €77,000 gap purely from choosing the Algarve over the national average, before any premium for beachfront, golf-resort or Lagos/Loulé postcodes within the region itself is even factored in. Because Portuguese banks typically lend against the lower of the purchase price or their own valuation, that gap flows straight through into how much deposit a foreign buyer needs to find upfront.
"The Algarve isn't just Portugal's priciest coastline anymore — the data shows it pulling away from the rest of the country decisively, not gradually," says GrowIN Portugal Editorial.
Where relative value is actually shifting
The flip side of the Algarve breaking €3,000/m² is that the interior and Alentejo look increasingly like where a euro still stretches. Centro and Alentejo sit at €1,739/m² and €1,778/m² respectively — roughly 42% below the national median — and INE data from earlier in the year shows interior regions like Terras de Trás-os-Montes running over 50% below the national figure. For foreign buyers priced out of the Algarve's coastal municipalities, that's where the search is increasingly heading, alongside Setúbal and parts of the Oeste corridor, both of which have posted some of the sharpest year-on-year growth precisely because buyers are chasing value outward from Lisbon and Faro.
None of this changes the underlying purchase mechanics for non-residents — a NIF, a Portuguese bank account, and budgeting roughly 8–9% of the price in transaction costs remain the baseline, as covered in our property buying guide for foreigners. It's worth remembering, too, that buying property in Portugal no longer carries any Golden Visa benefit, so these numbers reflect pure housing-market appetite rather than residency-driven demand.
What to watch next
INE releases the next Inquérito à Avaliação Bancária na Habitação in late September, covering August data — worth watching for whether the Algarve consolidates above €3,000/m² or whether the usual late-summer slowdown in transactions cools the monthly pace. Buyers weighing the coast against the interior should also watch AIMI wealth-surcharge thresholds and IMI municipal rates, since rising valuations feed directly into both.
Foreigners eyeing Portugal in 2026 are no longer just choosing a region — they're choosing how much of that widening gap they're willing to pay for.