Lisbon City Rental Market Q3 2025: Engagement Slumps

Lisbon's rental market faced mounting challenges through summer 2025, with a dramatic surge in listings failing to attract tenant interest. By September, nearly 1,400 rental properties recorded zero contacts throughout the entire month—a 28% increase from July. At the same time, landlords increasingly turned to price cuts, with 1,481 listings reducing their asking rent in September alone, signaling a market under pressure.

Market Context: Cooling Demand Meets Steady Supply

The Lisbon rental market showed clear signs of tenant hesitancy across Q3 2025. With approximately 8,500–8,900 active listings tracked each month, the market maintained steady supply, but engagement metrics told a concerning story.

Key market indicators:

Lisbon Rental Market Trends Q3 2025

Average monthly rent hovered around €2,200, showing remarkable price stability (±1.5% fluctuation). Average contacts per listing declined steadily: 6.80 in July → 6.63 in August → 5.78 in September (−15% drop). Average views per listing remained high (141–156 per month), but conversion to actual inquiries weakened. Favorite saves decreased from 14.39 to 13.34, indicating reduced tenant commitment

The market wasn't collapsing—it was stalling. Properties attracted eyeballs but struggled to convert browsers into serious renters.

Key Insights: The Data Behind the Disengagement

By September 2025, 1,394 unique rental listings received zero contacts on every single day they had engagement data recorded—representing roughly 16% of the market. This cohort of "invisible" listings grew consistently quarter-over-quarter:

Lisbon Rental Listings Contact Analysis

The trajectory is striking: a 28% increase in zero-contact listings from July to September. Meanwhile, properties with zero favorites followed a similar pattern, jumping from 254 in July to 342 in September:

Lisbon Rental Listings Favorite Analysis

What this means: A substantial segment of the market is effectively invisible to renters, likely due to pricing misalignment, poor presentation, or saturation in specific property categories or neighborhoods.

Price Cuts Accelerated—But Price Hikes Disappeared

Landlords responded to weak demand with aggressive price reductions. The number of listings that lowered their asking rent within the month surged:

Lisbon Rental Price Trends Analysis

Conversely, price increases became rare:

In September, landlords were nearly 5× more likely to cut prices than raise them (1,481 cuts vs. 317 increases). In July, that ratio was only 2:1. This shift signals growing landlord anxiety and a market tilting toward tenant negotiating power.

Studios Outperform Despite Lowest Prices: The Engagement Paradox

Breaking down the market by bedroom count reveals a winner: studio apartments (0 bedrooms) commanded the highest engagement rates despite the lowest rents. We only show results up to T3, since T4+ flats are much less common and do not shape the market trend.

2025-07

2025-08

2025-09

Studios achieved nearly double the contact rate of 3-bedroom properties. Despite representing the most affordable segment, they also saw the strongest view-to-contact conversion—suggesting robust demand for entry-level rentals while larger, pricier units languished.

Notably, 3-bedroom properties suffered the steepest engagement decline: average contacts dropped 16% from July (5.37) to September (4.49), even as their average price held steady.

What This Means for Landlords and Renters

For landlords: - Act on stagnant listings immediately. If you've had zero contacts for 2+ weeks, the market has spoken—consider a 5–10% price reduction or relist with better photos/descriptions. - Studios are the safe bet. Smaller units consistently outperform in engagement and time-to-rent. - Avoid September price hikes. Q3 data shows the market won't support them; 82% of listings that changed price in September went down, not up.

For renters: - Negotiating power is growing. With 1 in 6 listings receiving no inquiries and price cuts surging, landlords are motivated to deal. - September was a turning point. If you're searching now (Q4 2025), you're entering a renter-friendly market with more leverage than tenants had in summer. - Larger properties offer value. While studios dominate engagement, 2- and 3-bedroom units are underperforming—meaning potential bargains for families or sharers willing to negotiate.

Final Takeaway

Lisbon's rental market in Q3 2025 told two stories: stability in pricing and crisis in engagement. Landlords kept asking rents steady, but tenants simply stopped responding. The result? A growing pool of "ghost listings," an acceleration in price cuts, and a clear shift in market power from landlords to renters.

As we move into Q4, the question isn't whether rents will crash—they've proven resilient—but whether landlords will adapt their expectations quickly enough to avoid prolonged vacancies. For renters, the window of opportunity is wide open.

Data covers rental listings in Lisbon municipality (Lisboa) tracked from July 1 to September 30, 2025. Engagement metrics reflect daily tracking of views, contacts, and favorites. Price changes calculated using first vs. last recorded price within each calendar month.

Datasets in this Collection

• Lisbon Rental Listings Analysis No Favorites Q3 2025
• Lisbon Rental Listings Analysis No Contact Analysis
• Lisbon Rental Market Trends Q3 2025
• Lisbon Rental Market Trends By Count of Room Q3 2025
• Lisbon Rental Price Trends (decrease) Q3 2025
• Lisbon Rental Price Trends (increase) Q3 2025