Where to buy in Lisbon: eight areas compared (2026)

Lisbon has 24 parishes (freguesias), and the parish is the smallest area for which an official sale price is published. This guide compares the eight areas our readers ask about most, using the median price per square metre of homes actually sold, from INE, for the 12 months to June 2026. Neighbourhood names such as Chiado or Lapa have no official price of their own, so each one is shown with the parish that contains it.

The city median over that period was €5,192/m², up 14.7% on the 12 months to June 2025. Within the city the range runs from €3,850/m² in Santa Clara to €7,254/m² in Santo António, so the dearest parish is about 1.9 times the cheapest.

The eight areas at a glance

Prices: INE median sale price per m² of dwellings, 12 months to June 2026; change against the 12 months to June 2025 (our calculation from the INE series). Short-let status: Lisbon's AL regulation (RMAL), in force since 6 December 2025. "Suits" is our editorial summary.

Alfama and Baixa (Santa Maria Maior)

Santa Maria Maior covers the Pombaline grid of the Baixa, the cathedral, the castle hill, Alfama and Mouraria. Its median of €5,200/m² is now level with the city's, and it rose 6.4% over the year, well behind the city's 14.7%; in INE's previous release it had been one of only two parishes where the median fell. The parish is in absolute containment for short lets, with an AL ratio of 66.9% when the RMAL took effect, so a purchase here only makes sense as a home or a long let. Transport is excellent, but expect stairs, small irregular flats in Alfama and noise near the busiest streets. Read the full Alfama and Baixa area guide.

Chiado and Bairro Alto (Misericórdia)

Misericórdia runs from Chiado's theatres and bookshops through the Bairro Alto to Santa Catarina and the river at Cais do Sodré. Homes sold for a median €6,014/m², up 12.6%. Most stock is in 18th- and 19th-century buildings, often without a lift, and the Bairro Alto is loud at night. Short lets are closed to new registrations (absolute containment), and the Cascais train and ferries leave from Cais do Sodré. See the Chiado and Bairro Alto guide.

Príncipe Real and Avenida (Santo António)

Santo António is Lisbon's most expensive parish, at €7,254/m², up 20.3% in a year. It combines the Avenida da Liberdade, the garden quarter of Príncipe Real with its palacetes, and the quieter streets around Rato and Amoreiras. Four metro stations serve it, and the Circular line from Rato is due in Q1 2027 according to Metro de Lisboa. It is in absolute containment, so price a purchase on living there or letting long term. More in the Príncipe Real and Avenida guide.

Lapa and Santos (Estrela)

Estrela holds the embassy streets of Lapa, the small houses of Madragoa, the Basílica and its garden, and the converted warehouses of Santos. The median was €5,770/m², up a more modest 5.2%. The parish has no metro station yet; Estrela and Santos stations on the Circular line are published for Q1 2027, and the CP Cascais line stops at Santos. Its short-let status is unsettled: in absolute containment in December 2025, it was reported in April 2026 to have moved to relative containment. See the Lapa and Santos guide.

Avenidas Novas

The early-20th-century grid of avenues around Saldanha and Campo Pequeno is Lisbon's office and transport hub, with a metro station on almost every corner and the Red line running direct to the airport. Homes sold for a median €6,144/m², up 23.8%, the strongest rise of Lisbon's 24 parishes. The stock is mostly apartments, from Art Deco buildings with high ceilings to 1960s blocks with lifts and garages. For short lets, the parish was placed in relative containment as a whole on 6 December 2025, and ECO reported on 6 April 2026 that it had left; that change has not been formally published, so get the status of the specific address in writing before relying on short lets. Read the Avenidas Novas guide.

Campo de Ourique

Campo de Ourique is a flat, walkable grid on a hilltop, with its covered market, a long high street, the 28E tram terminus and Redbridge international school. The median was €6,055/m², up 9.5%. It has no metro yet: Rato is about a 15-minute walk, and a Red line station is planned with operation given for 2030. The parish as a whole is not in containment, though the regulation lists some bairros in it. See the Campo de Ourique guide.

Belém and Restelo

Belém pairs the monuments on the river with Restelo's villas and family houses on the hill above, close to PaRK Restelo and the British School of Lisbon's Restelo campus. Homes sold for a median €5,889/m², up 22.9%, the second-fastest rise in the city. There is no metro and none is planned; the CP Cascais line takes about eight minutes to Cais do Sodré. The parish is not in containment, but some bairros are listed, so confirm the street. More in the Belém and Restelo guide.

Parque das Nações

The former Expo 98 site on the eastern riverfront is almost entirely post-1998 apartments, with lifts, underground parking and five kilometres of promenade. Its median of €6,269/m² is the second highest in the city, but its rise slowed to 7.3% over the year, and the median eased from €6,407/m² in the 12 months to March 2026. Oriente station combines the Red line, suburban and long-distance trains, and the airport is three metro stops away. The parish as a whole is not in containment for short lets, but published lists of the regulation's bairros include some inside it, such as Cabo Ruivo, so check the bairro. See the Parque das Nações guide.

If your budget is…

A simple way to compare areas is to divide a budget by the parish median. The result is a rough floor area, not a valuation: a median per square metre mixes small and large homes, old and new buildings, and a specific flat can sell well above or below it. Purchase taxes come on top; see our cost of buying guide.

Our calculation from INE medians, 12 months to June 2026, rounded to the nearest square metre.

Up to €400,000

At the city median, €400,000 corresponds to about 77 m². Among the eight areas, Santa Maria Maior gives the most space for the money, also about 77 m², but only as a home or long let. If space matters more than a central address, the parishes beyond this list go further: Santa Clara at €3,850/m² (about 104 m²), Olivais at €4,399/m² (about 91 m²), Penha de França at €4,659/m² (about 86 m²) and Carnide at €4,690/m² (about 85 m²). Just outside the city, Oeiras sold at €4,438/m² and Amadora at €3,315/m² over the same period.

€400,000 to €700,000

This is the band where a 100 m² home at the parish median sits in seven of the eight areas, from €520,000 in Santa Maria Maior to €626,900 in Parque das Nações; in Santo António the same size now costs €725,400. Estrela, Belém, Misericórdia, Campo de Ourique and Avenidas Novas all fall between €577,000 and €614,400 for that size, so the choice between them is about the kind of building and daily life rather than price.

Above €800,000

At €800,000 a buyer is looking at about 110 m² in Santo António, 128 m² in Parque das Nações or 136 m² in Belém at the median. Houses with gardens are concentrated in Restelo and Lapa, and the period apartments and palacetes of Príncipe Real sit at the top of the range. Above €600,000 of tax value per person, the AIMI wealth tax starts to apply, as explained in the cost guide.

Is it a good time to buy?

We do not forecast prices; here is what the INE series shows. Lisbon's 12-month median has risen in every quarter of the published series, from €3,531/m² in the 12 months to December 2021 to €5,192/m² in the 12 months to June 2026, an increase of 47.0%. The pace has not been steady: the year-on-year rise was 10.2% to June 2023, then 3.0% to June 2024 and 7.7% to June 2025, before accelerating to 15.2% to March 2026. The latest release shows a slowdown: the annual rise eased to 14.7% to June 2026, and the 12-month median gained 2.2% in the quarter, against 4.2% in the quarter before. The second quarter of 2026 on its own recorded €5,299/m² (INE, release of 23 October 2026), above the 12-month figure, so the most recent sales were at the higher end of the period.

Two other points stand out. Lisbon's 14.7% was below the rise for Grande Lisboa (18.7%, to €3,757/m²) and for Portugal as a whole (17.7%, to €2,264/m²), and in the latest quarter both of those rose 4.4%, twice Lisbon's pace, so the fastest growth is happening outside the capital. Within the city, 23 of the 24 parishes rose; only Marvila fell (−1.5%), while Avenidas Novas rose most, by 23.8%. Buyers domiciled abroad paid a median €6,325/m² against €5,000/m² for buyers domiciled in Portugal, a gap of 26.5% (INE, 12 months to March 2026).

The figures on this page cover sales to June 2026. INE's next release, covering the 12 months to September 2026, is expected in January 2027. Our Lisbon property price index is updated with each release.

Figures are INE medians for the 12 months to June 2026 and describe sales already completed; they are not valuations of any property. Short-let status as known on 19 October 2026. General information, not financial or legal advice.