Discover the new construction values per square meter for 2026 and learn how to update your home insurance or multi-risk insurance based on zones I, II, and III.
APROSE (National Association of Insurance Agents and Brokers) has announced the new reference values per square meter for the price of housing construction in 2026.
These values are fundamental for calculating property insurance, home insurance, and multi-risk insurance, as they determine the insured capital necessary to adequately protect each property.
Even with the increased use of the SCRIM (Real Estate Reconstruction Calculation System) simulator, many insurance companies continue to use the traditional method, based on the average construction price per square meter.
Values per Square Meter in 2026
According to APROSE, the reference values for housing construction for 2026 are:
- Zone I: €945.66 — increase of €20.72/m² (compared to €924.95 in 2025)
- Zone II: €826.65 — increase of €18.11/m² (compared to €808.53 in 2025)
- Zone III: €748.93 — increase of €16.41/m² (compared to €732.52 in 2025)
These adjustments reflect the increase in construction costs in Portugal and are in line with the INE's update coefficients.
Understand Zones I, II, and III
To correctly apply the reference values, the country is divided into three geographical zones:
| Property insurance – Values, per square meter, of the price of housing construction | |||||
| [2010–2026] | |||||
| Year | Zone I | Zone II | Zone III | Update Coefficient | Diplomas |
| 2026 | 945,66 € | 826,65 € | 748,93 € | 1,0224 | Notice No. 23174/2025/2, dated September 19 |
| 2025 | 924,95 € | 808,53 € | 732,52 € | 1,0216 | INE Notice No. 23099/2024/2, dated October 18 |
| 2024 | 905,39 € | 791,44 € | 717,04 € | 1,0694 | INE Notice No. 20980-A/2023, dated October 30 |
| 2023 | 846,63 € | 740,08 € | 670,50 € | 1,02 | Law No. 19/2022, of October 21 |
| 2022 | 830,03 € | 725,57 € | 657,36 € | 1,0043 | INE Notice No. 17989/2021, dated September 23 |
| 2021 | 826,48 € | 722,46 € | 654,54 € | 0,9997 | INE Notice No. 15365/2020, dated October 2 |
| 2020 | 826,73 € | 722,68 € | 654,74 € | 1,0051 | INE Notice No. 15225/2019, dated October 1 |
| 2019 | 822,53 € | 719,01 € | 651,42 € | 1,0115 | INE Notice No. 13745/2018, dated September 26 |
| 2018 | 813,18 € | 710,83 € | 644,01 € | 1,0112 | INE Notice No. 11053/2017, dated September 25 |
| 2017 | 804,17 € | 702,96 € | 636,88 € | 1,0054 | INE Notice No. 11562/2016, dated September 22 |
| 2016 | 799,85 € | 699,19 € | 633,46 € | 1,0016 | INE Notice No. 10784/2015, dated September 23 |
| 2015 | 798,58 € | 698,07 € | 632,44 € | 0,9969 | INE Notice No. 11680/2014, dated October 21 |
| 2014 | 801,06 € | 700,24 € | 634,41 € | Ordinance No. 353/2013, dated December 4 | |
| 2013 | 793,21 € | 693,38 € | 628,19 € | Ordinance No. 358/2012, dated October 31 | |
| 2012 | 767,42 € | 670,84 € | 607,77 € | Ordinance No. 291/2011, dated November 4 | |
| 2011 | 743,70 € | 650,10 € | 588,98 € | Ordinance No. 1172/2010, dated November 10 | |
| 2010 | 741,48 € | 648,15 € | 587,22 € | Ordinance No. 1379-B/2009, dated October 30 | |
Zone I
District capitals and municipalities with the highest population density — such as Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Braga, Coimbra, Setúbal, and the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira.
Zone II
It includes medium-sized cities such as Guimarães, Figueira da Foz, Loulé, Torres Vedras, Caldas da Rainha, among others.
Zone III
Comprises the remaining municipalities of mainland Portugal.
This division helps to reflect real differences in reconstruction costs and allows home insurance and multi-risk insurance to be adjusted to local realities.
It should also be added that the above-mentioned values per square meter of the price of housing construction are relevant, among other things, for the purpose of determining and setting the capital to be guaranteed under various insurance contracts, namely multi-risk-housing, provided that the insured capital of the property always corresponds to the cost of its reconstruction, with the exception of the value of the land on which it is built, because it is imperishable, and it is up to the policyholder - and, by extension, in the context of providing an excellent service, to their broker - to carry out the corresponding initial assessment.
The insured value for buildings should therefore correspond to the market cost of rebuilding them, taking into account the type of construction or other factors that may influence this cost, or to the cadastral value in the case of buildings for expropriation or demolition. With the exception of the value of land, all elements must be taken into account when determining the insured capital, including the proportional value of common areas, if applicable.
Finally, it should be added that, with regard to the updating of the insured capital, this updating is also the sole responsibility of the policyholder, and the insurer cannot, on its own initiative, make this change. The policyholder may choose between two types of insured capital updating:
- Agreed Update: The insured capital is annual and automatically updated by applying the percentage indicated for this purpose by the policyholder;
- Indexed Update: The insured capital is annual and automatically updated according to changes in the IE (buildings), IRH (contents), or IRHE (contents and buildings) indices published by the Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority (ASF) for each quarter of the calendar year.
Madeira Archipelago: Calheta, Câmara de Lobos, Funchal, Machico, Ponta do Sol, Porto Moniz, Porto Santo, Ribeira Brava, Santa Cruz, Santana, and São Vicente.
Azores Archipelago: The island of São Miguel is home to the following municipalities: Lagoa, Nordeste, Povoação, Ribeira Grande, Vila Franca do Campo, and Ponta Delgada.
The island of Pico has the following municipalities: Lajes do Pico, Madalena do Pico, and São Roque do Pico. The island of São Jorge has the following municipalities: Velas and Calheta.
The island of Flores has the following municipalities: Santa Cruz das Flores and Lajes das Flores; The island of Terceira has the following municipalities: Praia da Vitória and Angra do Heroísmo;
The following municipalities are located on Graciosa Island: Santa Cruz da Graciosa;
On the island of Faial is the municipality of Horta; on the island of Santa Maria is the municipality of Vila do Porto; on the island of Corvo is the municipality of Corvo.