Demographics in motion: the new design of housing

There's much talk—and rightly so—about the housing crisis in Portugal. The skyrocketing prices, the lack of supply, the pressure on rent. But little is said about one of the most transformative and least discussed factors in this debate: the profound demographic shift the country has been undergoing. While we remain trapped in the discourse of scarcity, we silently ignore the fact that the very profile of those seeking housing is no longer the same. And that should change everything.

Some people think the real estate market is defined solely by square footage, interest rates, or economic cycles. But behind every property is always a person—or a family, or a new configuration of "home"—and therefore, the true transformative force in the sector is, and always will be, demographics. Changes in the profiles of people seeking homes are quietly reshaping housing needs, challenging the existing supply and forcing us to think differently about the future of cities.

Portugal is aging. It's an unavoidable reality. According to the INE (National Statistics Institute), the number of people over 65 continues to rise, now representing more than 23% of the population. This aging process not only impacts healthcare and pension systems: it profoundly changes the way we think about housing. Staying at home for longer periods, the need for accessibility, proximity to services, and the importance of safe and connected social environments become critical factors in choosing a home—or in deciding to stay.

At the same time, we're witnessing the rise of single-person households. More and more people are living alone—whether by choice, age, circumstance, or mobility. And this reality isn't exclusive to older people. Among young adults and early-career professionals, there's also a growing number of people who don't live as a couple or with a family. This phenomenon demands smaller, more efficient, and better-located housing typologies—something that's scarce in today's housing stock, which is still heavily oriented toward the classic nuclear family model.

And there's a third major demographic trend worth highlighting: growing cultural diversity. In recent years, Portugal has become a destination of choice for those seeking quality of life, stability, or professional opportunities. From digital nomads to immigrants seeking new roots, an increasingly broad mosaic of origins and lifestyles coexists in our cities. And each brings with it different housing needs and habits: some value community proximity, others flexible contracts, and still others integration with shared services.

These changes, all legitimate and increasingly significant, have a common denominator: the urgent need to adapt the real estate market to current and future demographic realities. Continuing to plan as if it were 1995 is wasting the opportunity to build a smarter, more sustainable market, more aligned with those truly seeking homes in 2025.

But adapting means more than changing areas or designing new plans. It means rethinking urban policies, promoting typological diversity, encouraging the development of solutions designed for different lifestyles, and integrating services that respond to new priorities: mobility, proximity, inclusion, autonomy, and well-being. It means realizing that a country with fewer children, more elderly people, more single people, and more diversity needs different housing—and that this difference is increasingly structural.

It's also an opportunity to innovate. Assisted living, modular apartments, buildings with shared services, co-housing solutions, intergenerational projects, more flexible contracts—all of these are ideas already gaining traction in other countries and deserve consideration in a market that strives to be competitive, but also fair and adaptable.

Meanwhile, people continue to search. They continue to adapt. They continue to live in homes that often don't meet their real needs. And this is where the sector must show vision. We can't continue building based on outdated models, as if we all lived in families of four with the same habits and routines. That country no longer exists. And the longer we delay responding, the greater the mismatch between those seeking housing and what's actually available.

Demographics aren't a distant statistic. They're a lens through which we must view the future of real estate. Ignoring this reality undermines the sector's relevance. Recognizing it—and acting on it—is the only way to ensure the market evolves with meaning, purpose, and humanity.