Is my house overpriced in Portugal? Compare your asking price with the local market

If you are asking yourself "is my home overpriced?", the price per square metre gives you a first answer. When your asking price sits well above what the area shows for the same type of property, you get fewer viewings and the sale takes longer. Enter the area, the property type, the size and your asking price. The check tells you whether you are below, in line with or above the market.

The benchmark comes from market data for the area: sales and listings of properties of the same type. Use it before you put your property on the market, when an estate agent suggests a price, or when your listing has been online for weeks without a serious offer. If that last case sounds familiar, see also what to do when your property is not selling.

This result is a first indicator, not a valuation. Condition, floor level, view, sun exposure, a terrace or a parking space can justify a price above the average, or pull it below. If your price comes out above the market, first make sure your property has features that back it up. For a figure that takes these features into account, request the free estimate or read how a property's value is worked out. Neither replaces a bank valuation or a valuation by a certified valuer (perito avaliador).

When to check your asking price during the sale

There are four points in a sale where a quick check can prevent a costly mistake. At each one the question shifts slightly, and so does the way you use the result.

Before the listing goes live

This is when correcting the price still costs you nothing. Buyers searching in your area see new listings in the first few days and make up their minds quickly. If the price looks high, they move on and rarely come back.

Cutting the price a few weeks later does little to fix this. People who follow the market notice the drop and wonder what is wrong with the property. Many prefer to wait for a second reduction before making an offer.

We see the same story again and again. A two-bedroom flat (T2) is listed above the local market to leave room for negotiation, and nothing happens. It is then reduced twice and ends up selling for less than it would have fetched with the right price from day one.

When the listing gets few enquiries after a few weeks

Few enquiries mean the listing is not convincing people who see it in the search results. Start with the price. It is the first filter buyers apply, before they even open the photos.

Dark photos or a thin description also put people off, but they matter less when the price is in line with the area. If the result shows your price is above the market, that is where to begin. If it is in line, review the listing with the listing checker.

Two different signals need telling apart. Few viewings point mainly to the price or the listing. Plenty of viewings but no offers point more to the property itself, such as its condition, noise or work still to be done. The page My property isn't selling: what can I do? helps you separate the causes.

When an offer comes in well below the asking price

A low offer may just be a tactic. Some buyers open very low to see how far the seller will drop. Others have done the sums using local prices and arrived, quite reasonably, at a lower figure.

Before you reply, compare your price with the market. If it is in line, you can hold firm or make a modest counter-offer backed by concrete points about the property. If it is above, the offer may be a warning about your price rather than an insult.

A few questions to ask yourself before deciding:

• Did the buyer justify the figure with renovation work, the floor level or other properties for sale nearby?
• Are there other interested buyers or viewings booked right now?
• How long has the listing been online?
• Does the buyer already have a mortgage approved, or are they still waiting on the bank?

To look at the offer in more detail, see I've received an offer for my property: is it fair?. To find out what you would keep after selling at that figure, use the net proceeds calculator.

When an agent suggests a listing price that seems too high or too low

If you speak to several estate agencies, you will hear different prices for the same property. A very high figure can be a way to win the contract, with requests to reduce arriving a few weeks later. A very low figure sells quickly, but it is the seller who loses the difference.

Bring your own reference point to the meeting. You can then ask the agent which local sales they are relying on and why their figure differs from yours. A serious professional will explain the number with concrete examples of similar properties.

Before signing the contrato de mediação imobiliária (the agency agreement), read the exclusivity, duration and commission terms carefully. Changing the price or the agency partway through is not always straightforward. For this stage, see Independent valuation before choosing an estate agency.

Is your home overpriced? How to read the result

The result places your asking price in one of three positions, compared with prices in the area for the same type of property. Each position calls for a different response. None of them, on its own, tells you the price your property will actually sell for.

Below the market: make sure there is a reason

A price below the local level usually brings early enquiries. That suits sellers who need to move quickly, for example with an inheritance shared between siblings or before a relocation with a fixed date.

The risk is leaving money on the table for no reason. Before keeping that price, check whether the gap comes from something concrete that a buyer will spot at the viewing.

• Work that needs doing: the original kitchen and bathroom, old plumbing, wooden window frames without double glazing.
• A known defect: damp on a wall, leaks coming from the terrace above, cracks in the façade.
• A paperwork issue: an enclosed balcony or an outbuilding missing from the licença de utilização (the habitation licence issued by the council), or building works already approved at a condominium meeting.
• A drawback of the property itself: a fourth floor with no lift, or a ground-floor flat facing a busy street.

If none of this applies to your property, the low price is probably a mistake from the start. If you have already received an offer and are unsure whether to accept it, read I've had an offer on my property: is it fair?.

In line with the area: you stand out in other ways

When your price matches the area, it stops being your selling point. Your property now competes with neighbouring ones at the same price level. The buyer will choose the one that looks simplest and safest to buy.

• Presentation: photos taken in natural light, tidy rooms, and small repairs done before viewings, such as a dripping tap or a broken roller shutter.
• Paperwork ready: caderneta predial (the tax record of the property), certidão permanente (the land registry certificate), energy certificate and licença de utilização gathered before you advertise. The full list is in Documents needed to sell a property in Portugal.
• Negotiation prepared: decide in advance the figure below which you will not go, and what you can concede without lowering the price, such as the date you hand over the keys.

Above the market: a warning, not a verdict

A price above the local level does not mean nobody will buy. It means the buyer will look for a reason to pay more, and that reason has to be easy to see.

Ask yourself what a buyer gets here that comparable properties do not offer. It might be a terrace big enough for a dining table, a lock-up garage in a neighbourhood where parking is hard, a recent renovation with good materials, or an open view over the river.

Then check that it shows up straight away in the listing. If the garage is not in the title or the first photos, the buyer only compares the price per m² and moves on. A terrace photographed on a grey day also loses much of its appeal.

If you cannot find a clear argument, review the price before the listing goes stale. A property that sits on the market for months at the same price ends up raising suspicion. If you are already in that position, read My property isn't selling: what can I do?.

A starting point for your decision

The result compares your price with a local benchmark, not with your specific property. It cannot see the condition of the walls, which way the flat faces or the noise from the street. Nor is it the final sale price.

Use it to decide whether to keep your price or take a closer look. For a figure that reflects the features of your property, request the free estimate. If you need a more detailed document, see what a market study includes.

What changes the answer from the price check

The result depends on what you enter in the form. Four choices carry more weight than the rest. One mistake in any of them is enough to make a reasonable price look above the market, or the other way round.

The area: the parish or the whole municipality

Comparing with the parish (freguesia) or with the whole municipality can change the reading a great deal. In municipalities with very different neighbourhoods, the municipal figure mixes markets that have little to do with yours. In Lisbon, Campo de Ourique and Marvila count towards the same municipality. In Porto the same goes for Foz and Campanhã, and in Cascais for Estoril and Alcabideche.

Choose the area closest to the property, the one where a buyer would actually look. Then run the check with both options. If the answer shifts a lot between parish and municipality, the exact location weighs on your price, and the parish comparison is the one to rely on.

Floor area: the figure on the caderneta predial

Enter the area shown on the caderneta predial (the tax office record that describes the property). That way you avoid comparing your home's net floor area with gross areas. It is a common mistake, and it distorts the price per m².

Net area (área útil) only counts the interior living space. Gross area (área bruta) also includes the walls and, depending on the case, the balconies. Take a two-bedroom flat listed at 300,000 euros, with 80 m² gross and 68 m² net. On the gross area, that works out at 3,750 euros per m². On the net area, it rises to around 4,400 euros per m², and the property looks dearer than it is.

Leave the garage and the storage room out of the living area. On the caderneta they appear separately, as ancillary area (área dependente). If you don't have the caderneta to hand, see how to get it in the list of documents for selling a property.

Property type

A two-bedroom flat, a detached house and a plot of land don't share the same price per m², even on the same street. With a house, part of the value comes from the plot and the privacy, not just the built area. With land, the price depends mainly on what the câmara municipal (town hall) allows you to build.

Pick the type closest to your property, even if none fits perfectly. A terraced house entered as a detached house gets compared with homes that usually sell at a different price. The result then tells you nothing about your own case.

Asking price: testing several figures

Trying two or three prices shows you the point at which the property stops being in line with the area. Nothing about the property changes, yet the result becomes far more useful.

1. Enter the price you have in mind and note the answer.
2. Run the check again with a lower price, keeping the same area, floor area and type.
3. Do the same with a higher price and note the figure at which the answer moves into another category.

You then have a reference point before you speak to an estate agent or agree to a price reduction. If the property has been on the market for months without offers, this test is a good starting point. The next steps are set out on the page My property isn't selling.

What this check can tell you, and what to do next

The result compares your asking price with market data for your area. It is not a bank valuation. Nor is it a certified valuation, carried out by a perito avaliador (an independent valuer registered with the CMVM, Portugal's securities market regulator). So you cannot use it with a bank, in court or when an estate is being divided.

When you need a different kind of valuation

• The buyer is taking out a mortgage: the bank will order its own valuation, by a valuer it chooses. This check does not replace it.
• You have inherited a property and the heirs disagree on its value: when an estate is shared out, only a well-supported figure carries weight. See property valuation for an inheritance.
• You are divorcing and the couple's assets need to be split: the same logic applies, as explained in valuing your property in a divorce.
• You are not sure which document to ask for: the difference is set out in the guide bank valuation or market study.

Where the reading becomes less precise

A comparison is only as good as the sales around it. In an inland village, just a handful of properties change hands each year. With so few references, one unusual sale is enough to pull the average up or down.

The same goes for properties that are unlike anything else nearby. Think of a quinta with farmland and outbuildings, an old manor house, or a villa with unlicensed building work. Here the local price per m² says little. Each property has to be looked at on its own terms: the land, the legal position and the kind of buyer it attracts.

A common case is a loft converted into a bedroom, or an enclosed balcony, that appears neither in the caderneta predial (the property's record at the tax office) nor in the licença de utilização (the council document authorising how the property is used). To you, that is floor space. A buyer with a mortgage may not pay for it, because the bank's valuation tends to count only the legal area.

Your next step

1. If the result has left you unsure, ask for a free estimate. It looks at your actual property, not just the local average.
2. If the sale is going ahead and you want to set the price on firmer ground, the next step is a market study. It brings together comparable properties in your area, the features of your own property and an adviser's opinion, in a report you can show to viewers (see the options).
3. If you have already had an offer and cannot decide whether to accept it, the page I've received an offer for my property will help you weigh it up.

Frequently asked questions