OPENING THESIS
The largest homes were in Palmela. The highest prices were in Sesimbra.
Moving south of Lisbon can change the price-and-space equation substantially, but Setúbal, Palmela and Sesimbra are not interchangeable ways of getting more for less.
South of Lisbon, the practical comparison is not one of distance alone: Setúbal, Palmela and Sesimbra rearrange city context, space and coast. Continue in the Portugal market comparison tool; no regional figure is blended here.
THE CONTROLLED DATA
What the Numbers Say
The seven measures show Palmela's space advantage and Sesimbra's price lead alongside a separate urban profile in Setúbal.
| Metric | Setúbal | Palmela | Sesimbra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average price per m² | €2,604/m² | €2,380/m² | €3,112/m² |
| Average transaction value | €268,435 | €274,118 | €305,668 |
| Average property size | 107 m² | 122 m² | 114 m² |
| Transaction time | 5 months | 6 months | 5 months |
| Final discount | 4.3% | 3.7% | 4.8% |
| Accumulated discount | 5.8% | 5.5% | 6.4% |
| Estimated transactions | 2,350 | 1,315 | 1,176 |
RELOCATION CONTEXT
What That Means for Living Here
Setúbal adds an established urban context and rail connectivity to the regional decision.
Palmela’s lower-density settings and residential variety change the property search without making a universal value claim.
Sesimbra’s coastal setting is a lifestyle distinction, not a causal explanation for its prices.
PLACE BEFORE PROPERTY
Inside the Region
The Arrábida protected landscape, Setúbal’s urban fabric, Palmela’s varied settlement patterns and Sesimbra’s built coastal context make this a geographic cluster—not one uniform market.
Setúbal
An urban, city-market option with its own residential context.
- Price per m²
- €2,604
- Average space
- 107 m²
Palmela
The largest average property and lowest price per square metre in this comparison.
- Price per m²
- €2,380
- Average space
- 122 m²
Sesimbra
The highest price per square metre and transaction value, in a coastal setting.
- Price per m²
- €3,112
- Average space
- 114 m²
PROPERTY SEGMENTS
What did the property segments reveal?
This report covers Setúbal, Palmela and Sesimbra as distinct municipal markets. The detailed controlled segment evidence below applies only to Setúbal municipality; it is not a regional average and must not be projected onto Palmela or Sesimbra.
How did new and used apartments compare?
New apartments in Setúbal municipality averaged €4,090/m², €393,854 and 101 m². Used apartments averaged €2,394/m², €212,283 and 92 m². AGTP calculates that the €/m² segment positions were approximately 71% apart. That is not an appreciation rate or a controlled new-build premium.
How did apartments and houses change the budget?
Setúbal apartments averaged €2,598/m², €233,936 and 93 m². Houses averaged a similar €2,626/m² but €382,234 and 156 m². The average house was 63 m² larger and its total transaction value was approximately 63% higher.
What did T2 and T3 apartments show?
T2 apartments averaged €2,565/m², €206,603 and 81 m². T3 apartments averaged €2,468/m², €267,103 and 108 m². The T3 cost approximately €60,500 more overall and provided 27 m² more average area while recording a slightly lower average €/m².
Did smaller and larger houses follow the same rule?
Setúbal houses with four or more bedrooms averaged €2,363/m², €499,722 and 217 m². Houses with three or fewer bedrooms averaged a higher €2,819/m² but a lower €298,177 and 112 m². Final discounts averaged 6.4% for the larger group and 5.3% for the smaller group.
This relationship differs from Cascais and reinforces that a larger house does not follow one universal €/m² rule.
Keep Palmela and Sesimbra distinct
Palmela recorded the largest average property and lowest average €/m² among the three municipalities; Sesimbra led average €/m² and average transaction value; Setúbal retained its own urban, price and pace profile. None of the detailed Setúbal-municipality relationships above is a Palmela, Sesimbra or synthetic regional result.
What buyers and sellers can do
Buyers considering Setúbal municipality should use the relevant segment evidence while checking condition, legal readiness and micro-location. Buyers considering Palmela or Sesimbra should use municipality-level evidence and property comparables rather than borrowing Setúbal segment averages. Sellers should examine original asking price, revisions and last asking price separately; no average discount is a recommended negotiation percentage.
Read what 15 selected markets revealed in 2025 Latest Setúbal Region quarterly context Compare Setúbal, Palmela and Sesimbra Methodology & Sources
Source: Confidencial Imobiliário — SIR (Sistema de Informação Residencial), full-year 2025. AGTP selection, derived comparisons and editorial analysis.
© IMOESTATISTICA – TODOS OS DIREITOS RESERVADOS.
Confidencial Imobiliário/Imoestatística supplies the underlying CI/SIR content. AGTP is responsible for selection, calculations, explanations and interpretations; CI/Imoestatística is not responsible for the surrounding AGTP analysis.
SIGNATURE COMPARISON
Price & Value
Sesimbra’s average price per square metre was about 31% above Palmela’s.
Average price per m²
Municipality-level 2025 values; no regional average.
Average transaction value
Municipality-level 2025 values; no regional average.
How Prices Have Changed Since 2020
A single year's price tells you where a market is today. Looking back to 2020 adds another dimension: how quickly it got there, whether recent growth is accelerating or slowing, and whether the three markets within the region have followed the same path.
Average Sale Price per m², 2020–2025
View accessible data table
| Concelho | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setúbal | €1,263/m²Baseline | €1,439/m²+13.9% | €1,693/m²+17.7% | €1,939/m²+14.5% | €2,123/m²+9.5% | €2,604/m²+22.7% |
| Palmela | €1,188/m²Baseline | €1,364/m²+14.8% | €1,714/m²+25.7% | €1,892/m²+10.4% | €1,866/m²-1.4% | €2,380/m²+27.5% |
| Sesimbra | €1,467/m²Baseline | €2,071/m²+41.2% | €2,191/m²+5.8% | €2,105/m²-3.9% | €2,661/m²+26.4% | €3,112/m²+16.9% |
Setúbal
- 2025 price change
- +22.7%
- Price change since 2020
- +106%
- Recent momentum
- Accelerating
Palmela
- 2025 price change
- +27.5%
- Price change since 2020
- +100%
- Recent momentum
- Reaccelerating
Sesimbra
- 2025 price change
- +16.9%
- Price change since 2020
- +112%
- Recent momentum
- Growth moderating
Setúbal
Setúbal's average price per square metre has more than doubled since 2020. Price growth moderated in 2024 before accelerating sharply to 22.7% in 2025. Transaction activity also increased 10.6% during the latest year, but the longer view is revealing: roughly the same number of homes sold in 2025 as in 2020 even though average €/m² is now more than twice as high. The market's long-term price expansion therefore cannot be explained simply by a corresponding expansion in the number of transactions.
Palmela
Palmela remains the least expensive of the three Setúbal-area markets on a €/m² basis, but it should not be mistaken for a slow-moving market. Prices have approximately doubled since 2020 and jumped 27.5% in 2025 after a small decline the year before. What makes that latest move particularly notable is transaction activity: the number of sales was essentially unchanged in 2025 and remains slightly below 2020. The latest price acceleration is therefore striking, but it has not been accompanied by a comparable expansion in sales volume.
Sesimbra
Sesimbra has more than doubled in average €/m² since 2020, but the path has been uneven. A dramatic increase in 2021 was followed by much slower growth and a small decline in 2023. Prices surged again in 2024 and continued rising strongly in 2025, although the rate eased from 26.4% to 16.9%. Transaction activity increased only modestly in 2025 and remains below its 2020 level, reinforcing the distinction between strong price appreciation and growth in the number of sales.
How Active the Market Has Been
Price changes are more informative when viewed alongside the number of homes actually changing hands. Transaction volume does not explain why prices moved, but it helps show whether a price trend occurred alongside expanding, stable, or contracting market activity.
Residential Transactions, 2020–2025
View accessible data table
| Concelho | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Setúbal | 2,341Baseline | 2,733+16.7% | 2,579-5.6% | 1,837-28.8% | 2,125+15.7% | 2,350+10.6% |
| Palmela | 1,338Baseline | 1,584+18.4% | 1,390-12.2% | 1,048-24.6% | 1,311+25.1% | 1,315+0.3% |
| Sesimbra | 1,254Baseline | 1,513+20.7% | 1,361-10.0% | 1,044-23.3% | 1,140+9.2% | 1,176+3.2% |
Setúbal — 2025 volume: 2,350 · YoY: +10.6% · vs. 2020: +0.4%
Palmela — 2025 volume: 1,315 · YoY: +0.3% · vs. 2020: -1.7%
Sesimbra — 2025 volume: 1,176 · YoY: +3.2% · vs. 2020: -6.2%
THE SPACE EQUATION
Property & Space
Palmela’s average property size was about 14% larger than Setúbal’s.
Average property size
Municipality-level 2025 values; no regional average.
MARKETING & PRICING HISTORY
Market Pace & Negotiation
Marketing time is closely grouped, while the two discount measures trace different points in each municipality's pricing history; none is a recommended offer.
In Setúbal municipality, new apartments averaged 11 months from listing to transaction, compared with four months for used apartments. This does not prove weak demand or construction delay; CI’s new category can include properties sold during planning or construction.
Houses averaged a 5.8% final and 7.7% accumulated discount, versus 3.9% and 5.2% for apartments. Houses averaged six months from listing to transaction, compared with four months for apartments. Final and accumulated discount use different reference points and must not be added together.
Source: Confidencial Imobiliário — SIR (Sistema de Informação Residencial), full-year 2025. AGTP analysis and identified derived calculations.
© IMOESTATISTICA – TODOS OS DIREITOS RESERVADOS.
Transaction time
Municipality-level 2025 values; no regional average.
Final discount
Municipality-level 2025 values; no regional average.
Accumulated discount
Municipality-level 2025 values; no regional average.
MUNICIPALITY-LEVEL READING
Where the Concelhos Differ
Setúbal combines the lowest average transaction value with the shortest measured transaction time in the group.
Palmela pairs the lowest price per square metre with the largest average property.
Sesimbra leads both price measures while remaining between Palmela and Setúbal on average property size.
Setúbal: Setúbal has more than doubled in €/m² since 2020 even though its 2025 transaction count is roughly unchanged from the baseline year.
Palmela: Palmela remains comparatively affordable, even though average €/m² has doubled since 2020 and rose 27.5% in the latest year.
Sesimbra: Sesimbra's five-year appreciation exceeds 100%, but its latest growth rate moderated and transaction volume remains below 2020.
CONTINUE THE RESEARCH
Explore These Markets
Compare Setúbal's urban profile, Palmela's space and Sesimbra's coastal price position using the same controlled annual measures.
Compare Setúbal, Palmela and SesimbraMETHOD & BOUNDARIES
Methodology & Limitations
These reports use full-year 2025 municipality-level averages from the controlled Confidencial Imobiliário / SIR dataset, filtered to period 2025 / Anual, tipologia Total and estado Total. Concelhos are shown separately; no synthetic regional average is calculated.
Gross Private Area (ABP)
Gross Private Area (ABP) is the total area measured by the outer perimeter and axes of the walls or other separating elements of the building or fraction, including private balconies, basements and private attics with the same use as the building or fraction.
Average price per m²
Average sold price for each square metre of gross private area (ABP).
Average transaction value
Average total sold price of a home.
Average property size
Average gross private area (ABP) of homes sold.
Transaction time
Average number of months between listing and sale.
Final discount
Average reduction from the final asking price to the sold price.
Accumulated discount
Average reduction from the original asking price to the sold price.
Estimated transactions
Estimated total number of property transactions in the market during the selected period.
Price per square metre, transaction value, property size, transaction time, final discount, accumulated discount and estimated transactions are market context—not a valuation, forecast or recommended negotiation position for an individual property. Lifestyle and infrastructure context is editorially separate from CI observations and does not assert price causation.
Historical Trend Data
Historical figures in this report are based on annual CI residential transaction data from 2020 through 2025. To maintain comparability, AGTP uses the total-concelho, all-property-type, all-condition annual observations for average sale price per square metre and homes sold.
Year-over-year percentages compare each annual observation with the preceding calendar year. ‘Change since 2020’ compares the 2025 annual figure with the corresponding 2020 figure.
The momentum labels used in this report are editorial descriptions of the recent multi-year pattern. They consider the annual changes in 2023, 2024 and 2025 together with the broader six-year trajectory. They are not forecasts.
Average price per square metre reflects the properties actually sold during each year. Changes can therefore result partly from changes in the mix, size, location, age or condition of homes transacted. They should not be interpreted as the appreciation rate of an individual property.
Transaction volume provides additional context for price movements but does not establish causation. A simultaneous increase or decline in prices and transactions should not be interpreted as proof that one caused the other.
Source: Confidencial Imobiliário / SIR — Sistema de Informação Residencial · Full year 2025. AGTP analysis.
© IMOESTATISTICA – TODOS OS DIREITOS RESERVADOS.
View full Methodology & Sources →
Photography credits
- Parque Natural da Arrábida … 01 — GualdimG / CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped and resized.
- Setubal-cityscape — Nightcrafter / CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped and resized.
- Arrábida, Setúbal, Portugal — Cláudio Franco / CC BY 2.0; cropped and resized.
- Palmela - Portugal (48831229492) — Vitor Oliveira / CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped and resized.
- Sesimbra Beach (3619203622) — culebrense / CC BY 2.0; cropped and resized.
- Sesimbra - Portugal (50862655237) — Vitor Oliveira / CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped and resized.
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