Lisbon, Sept. 3, 2026 (Lusa) - Almost half of Europeans can only afford the equivalent of a flat measuring up to 50 square metres, according to a new study by the Vienna University of Technology, which lists the Portuguese housing market among those that are «systematically inaccessible» Data from the study by the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien), published in the journal Maps, highlights the growing housing crisis affecting Europe, particularly the metropolitan areas of Madrid, Paris and Berlin, but also Lisbon.

In the absence of comparable official statistics, the authors analysed more than 18 million property sales listings and 3.5 million rental listings across 31 countries, published between March 2024 and March 2025.

Using this data, they calculated the amount of affordable living space based on regional average incomes and identified areas where housing is «out of reach» for most people on average incomes.

The results reveal that only two in five people (44 %) in Europe live in a city where it is possible for someone on an average income to buy a flat or studio of around 50 square metres. Around 39 % cannot even rent a home of this size.

The authors also point out that, given the existence of a minority with extremely high incomes that skews the average, the difficulties in accessing housing for the majority of citizens are even more severe than the study suggests.

The analysis also found that over 70% of the European population lives in regions where a 30-year mortgage allows for the purchase of properties of up to 75 square metres (based on average income).

Although Madrid, Paris and Berlin are the least affordable cities in Europe, the study warns that, in European capital cities such as Dublin, Lisbon, Warsaw, Prague and Budapest, more than 65% of the population lives in areas where the average rent offers less than 50 square metres for one-third of the local wage.

The study identifies Portugal, the Netherlands and Switzerland as countries that are «systematically unaffordable» for buyers on an average wage and warns that, in Eastern Europe, countries such as Poland and Hungary are becoming more expensive and are approaching Western European standards, despite their local incomes being comparatively much lower.

Ireland and Italy show «alarming levels of unaffordability in the rental market», where renting a home is proportionally more expensive than buying one with a mortgage.

The Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway and Finland) and the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) remain the most affordable regions on the continent, with the sole exception of their capital cities and a few specific urban centres, the study points out.

«Our study reveals very pronounced pockets of unaffordability,» summarises the lead author, Franziska Sielker, Professor of Urban and Regional Research at the Institute of Spatial Planning at the University of Vienna.

For the authors, these figures reveal a housing affordability crisis, which already disproportionately affects those entering the property market and those who move house frequently for personal or professional reasons.

Furthermore, they warn that, although urban centres suffer most from the consequences of high housing prices, they generate a «spillover effect» that spreads to neighbouring regions and drives up housing costs.

For this reason, they believe that metropolitan areas are the ones most in need of housing policy solutions.

The study also reveals that housing in popular tourist areas, such as coastal and mountainous regions, is less affordable than in other areas.

Specifically, it highlights that pressure on housing is particularly acute in the coastal areas of Spain, France, Portugal, Greece and Croatia, where second-home owners and short-term tenants are driving up property prices and displacing local residents.

The authors believe that one policy option in these regions would be to intervene in the short-term rental market by regulating holiday rental platforms to prevent residential properties from being allocated «en masse» to tourism – leaving residents with no housing options or supply – and to establish controls on the second-home market.

However, they warn that, given the highly regionalised nature of housing markets, generic national policies «are not always effective».

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