Household effort rate increases to buy and rent a house. How to lower it?

If you want to know how to reduce your effort rate, contact a Poupança no Minuto agent.

The household effort rate increases in home purchase and rental.

According to Idealista's analysis, reported by Notícias ao Minuto, the effort rate of families has increased and continues to rise, both for buying and renting a house.

To rent a house in Portugal, the required effort increased from 71% in the first quarter of 2023 to 81% in the first quarter of 2024.

To buy a house, the national effort rate increased from 60% to 68%, by 8 points since March 2023.

The city where the rate of effort increased the most to rent a house in the last year was Funchal, going from 75% in the first quarter of 2023 to 93% in the same period of 2024.

"Among the largest increases in effort rates to rent a house in the last year are Beja (13 p.p.), Santarém (10 p.p.), and Braga (7 p.p.). Followed by Setúbal (6 p.p.), Vila Real (4 p.p.), Lisbon (4 p.p.), Coimbra (4 p.p.), Castelo Branco (4 p.p.), Portalegre (4 p.p.), Viana do Castelo (3 p.p.), Bragança (2 p.p.), and Leiria (2 p.p.)", according to the news.

On the contrary, the city where the effort rate to buy a house increased the most was Faro, rising from 82% to 104%. "Next are the increases in effort rate in Funchal (21 pp), Lisbon (20 pp), Leiria (12 pp), Viana do Castelo (11 pp), Porto (10 pp), Viseu (9 pp), Bragança (8 pp), Setúbal (8 pp), Braga (8 pp) and Coimbra (7 pp)".

How to download the effort rate?  

Want to lower your effort rate? Decreasing the value you pay for your products is possible! If you have credits and/or insurance, these are the financial solutions you can turn to lower your monthly payments:

• Firstly, you can renegotiate the terms of your contracts with contracting entities in order to adjust to your current financial situation, aiming to reduce the monthly installment;  
• If it is not possible, or if you are not satisfied with the new proposed conditions, you can try to make a transfer of your credit/insurance to a new institution - this is a process, usually without costs, that allows you to access new conditions capable of significantly relieving the monthly amount you pay; 
• In case of having multiple credits, it is also possible to move forward with a credit consolidation into one, accessing lower interest rates and extending the repayment period, to a single installment and a lower amount.

To move forward with these processes, count on the support of credit intermediaries from Poupança no Minuto! We provide a service at no cost, which accompanies you through all these procedures, helping you collect the best proposals and choose the ideal one for you. We save you from all the bureaucracy, save your time and help you save money in your wallet, to lower your debt-to-income ratio. Contact us now.