26th February 2019 Idealista News
In 2018 it took an average of six months to sell a home in the metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto, less time than in the same period from the previous year (7 and 8 months, respectively) and than in 2013 (9 and 11 months, respectively). In the Algarve, the annual fall is even greater, since the average sales time shortened by three months last year, from 12 to 9 months.

06/04/2019

When you cross into Portugal from Spain on any major road, you will find a slip road leading to some Easitoll machines on the Portuguese side. These machines are for drivers of foreign-registered cars. After you have put your credit card in the slot and it has been accepted, a voice will wish you "boa viaje" ("have a good trip"), and you will get an Easitoll ticket which will be valid for 28 days. Your card will be debited with the cost of the tolls automatically by licence plate recognition) whenever you pass under a toll gantry on a major road.

Just before you reach each toll gantry on the road you will see an information board telling you the toll price of the upcoming road segment.

In case you are thinking about skipping the registration process  you should be aware there are fairly frequent road blocks on the Portuguese side of the border, and non-Portuguese cars seem to be a particular target

When you leave Portugal, it is advisable to dis-associate your credit card from the car you are driving, particularly if it is a hire car rented in Spain. This can be done via the call centre (see website for the phone numbers) or on the web page at www.portugaltoll.com. If you fail to do this, and the next driver of the car doesn't associate the car with his or her credit card, guess who is going to pay the toll charges for Portugal?

30 January, 2019
I recently came across this guide in Expatica, Portugal, which includes some great places to choose from if you want to live in Portugal, all of which have their own unique character and attractions. In the guide you’ll discover some of the best cities to live in Portugal, including Porto and Lisbon.

21 st December 2018 Bloomberg

Portugal’s housing market, which created a bonanza for sellers and a cutthroat environment for local buyers, is starting to show signs of slowing down after the country’s post 2011-2014 international bailout boom.

Housing prices rose 8.5 percent in the third quarter from the same period a year ago, a slowdown from the 11.2 percent year-on-year increase in the second quarter, the National Statistics Institute said on Friday. This result marks the the second consecutive quarter of decelerating home prices following five straight quarters of home-price growth.

3rd October 2018 RICS/Ci Portuguese Housing Market Survey

"Although October’s results suggest momentum has eased somewhat, forward looking metrics are still suggestive of a reasonably solid outlook for the market. Indeed, the macro fundamentals remain strong, which should help provide a positive backdrop for housingmarket activity in the near term.”

May 2018
The May 2018 RICS/Ci PHMS results point to continued growth in buyer demand, sales and prices across all regions of Portugal. There are tentative signs that the downward trend in fresh supply coming to the market may be easing, although it remains to be seen whether this will be sustained going forward. In the lettings market, rental growth continues to accelerate on the back of the demand/supply mismatch.

May 2018 RICS/Ci Portuguese Housing Market Survey

17 March, 2018

Tinsa reports that Spanish house prices increased by 3.6% during the year to January 2018 (3% inflation-adjusted) a significant increase from the low growth rate of 0.96% (-1.92% inflation-adjusted) during the same period last year. The average price of a house is up to €1,410 per square metre (sq. m).

Spain's housing market returned to growth in Q1 2016. House prices had fallen by a total of 41.9% (46.8% inflation-adjusted) from Q4 2007 to Q3 2015, according to figures provided by Tinsa. There had been 31 consecutive quarters of year on year decline.
Demand continues to rise strongly. In 2017, the total number of home sales in Spain increased 14.6% to 464,423 units from the previous year, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (INE).

The rise in transactions was mainly driven by foreigners buying homes on the coast and in cities like Barcelona and on the Costa del Sol, one of the country's most popular areas with overseas purchasers. Most foreign homebuyers are Britons, French, Germans, Belgians, Italians and Swedes.

Tinsa believe the outlook for Spain's housing market remains upbeat, and they expect house sales to rise by between 10% and 15% to reach about 550,000 transactions this year.

6th September, 2019.

I have just discovered the JustEstepona website on a Google search. The site is still under development but has great potential and already has some interesting articles and listings of builders for example. Keep an eye on it. The site can be found at www.justestepona.com.