Buying in PortugalPortugalReal estate agencies in Portugal

How many real estate agents are there in Portugal?

Property broker and real estate agents in Portugal

In Portugal, there are now 6,800 real estate agencies. But how many real estate agents are there? We’ve estimated that there could be 56,000 real estate agents in Portugal.

In Portugal, there are now 6,800 real estate agencies and 56,000 real estate agents

ForeignBuyersWatch.com

6,800 real estate agencies

According to IMPIC there are 6,888 real estate agencies in Portugal (November 2019). Although there is no official count of real estate agents, we can calculate this number.

Indeed, Expresso.pt wrote that in late 2016, there were 40,000 people working in real estate. And that year, 127,106 homes were sold in Portugal. While in 2018, 178,691 homes were sold (Idealista). So that gives us a good indication on how many people can make a living selling homes.

178,691 real estate transactions in Portugal in 2019, an increase of 100% compared to 2014
178,691 real estate transactions in Portugal in 2019, an increase of 100% compared to 2014

56,000 real estate agents

If in 2016 there were 40,000 people working in the real estate sector, in 2018 with 40.5% more transactions, an estimated 56,000 people were working in real estate.

8 agents per agency

With an estimated 56,000 brokers, and an official 6,888 agencies, there are 8 agents per agency on average. However, this number might become irrelevant due to the growth in networks of independent agents. Indeed, brands such as Predimed (292 agents), IAD Portugal (150 agents in Lisbon’s region, 89 in Algarve, 50 in Porto), and even REMAX Portugal (7940 agents) may change this number.

Indeed, in many companies, the agents are not employees, but independent workers. Therefore, at IAD Portugal, you will only find agents. Not agencies. And at REMAX, they claim 338 agencies for 7940 agents, showing an average number of agents per agency of 23.5. Which is way superior to the average 8 that we found before.

Therefore, we should now focus more and more on the number of agents, rather than agencies.

Over 13,000 agents work for these brands

The top 3 leading real estate agencies concentrate 10,000 agents. More than 13,000 real estate agents work for the top 6 brands that we could identify: REMAX, ERA, Century21, MaisConsultores, IAD, and Predimed:

More than 10,000 real estate agents work for the top 3 real estate agencies (REMAX, ERA and Century21)

7940 real estate professionals work for REMAX in Portugal (source https://www.remax.pt/officeagentsearch.aspx#!mode=list&type=2&regionId=12&regionRowId=&provinceId=&cityId=&localzoneId=&name=&location=&spokenLanguageCode=&page=1&countryCode=PT&countryEnuName=Portugal&countryName=Portugal&selmode=residential&officeId=&selectedCountryID=&initialRegionId=12&defaultRegionRowId=&defaultProvinceId=&defaultLocation=)
7940 real estate professionals work for REMAX in Portugal
152 real estate brokers work for IAD Portugal in the region of Lisbon (source
https://www.iadportugal.pt/find-a-consultant?_locale=en)
152 real estate brokers work for IAD Portugal in the region of Lisbon