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Guarda

The Guarda district climbs the eastern flank of the Serra da Estrela — mainland Portugal’s highest mountain range — from the granite cathedral city of Guarda, the loftiest district capital in the country, down to the fortified border towns of the Beira Alta and north to the port-wine terraces where the district meets the Douro. Because Portugal’s statistics office publishes house prices by sub-region and municipality rather than by district, this guide leads with the official figures for the Beiras e Serra da Estrela sub-region — which contains Guarda city — and then breaks the whole district down municipality by municipality, each number with its own source and reference period.

Last updated · First published

What does property cost in Guarda?

The figures below are the latest official medians for the region, each shown beside its reference period and INE source. Transacted (sold) prices are drawn from INE’s house-price statistics; the national median is shown alongside so you can see how the region compares.

Median sold price · GuardaSold · INE

€694/m²

Beiras e Serra da Estrela

1st Quarter 2026Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal
CC BY 4.0
Median sold price · PortugalSold · INE (national)

€2,168/m²

Portugal

1st Quarter 2026Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal
CC BY 4.0
Median new-lease rent · GuardaRent · INE

€4.74/m²

Beiras e Serra da Estrela

1st Quarter 2026Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal
CC BY 4.0

Sub-region level (Beiras e Serra da Estrela) — INE publishes the rent series by NUTS-III only, so there is no separate concelho-level rent figure for the Guarda municipalities.

How Guarda sold prices have moved

  • Median sold price · Guarda· Sold
Latest data: 1st Quarter 2026Median sold price · GuardaMedian sold price · Guarda: latest 694 €/m² in 1st Quarter 2026.694 €/m² · 1st Quarter 2026

Median sold price · Guarda: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal · retrieved 2026-08-12T23:51:31.305187Z · CC BY 4.0

How Guarda sold prices have moved — data table — most recent 12 periods
PeriodMedian sold price · Guarda (€/m²)
2nd Quarter 2023564
3rd Quarter 2023575
4th Quarter 2023573
1st Quarter 2024558
2nd Quarter 2024575
3rd Quarter 2024570
4th Quarter 2024595
1st Quarter 2025625
2nd Quarter 2025645
3rd Quarter 2025663
4th Quarter 2025690
1st Quarter 2026694
Median sold price · GuardaLatest 1st Quarter 2026: 694 · Min 515 · Max 694 · Range 179 · CAGR +4.9%/yr
Show all 26 rows
How Guarda sold prices have moved — data table — full series (26 periods)
PeriodMedian sold price · Guarda (€/m²)
4th Quarter 2019515
1st Quarter 2020529
2nd Quarter 2020544
3rd Quarter 2020535
4th Quarter 2020569
1st Quarter 2021527
2nd Quarter 2021542
3rd Quarter 2021545
4th Quarter 2021550
1st Quarter 2022575
2nd Quarter 2022576
3rd Quarter 2022578
4th Quarter 2022570
1st Quarter 2023578
2nd Quarter 2023564
3rd Quarter 2023575
4th Quarter 2023573
1st Quarter 2024558
2nd Quarter 2024575
3rd Quarter 2024570
4th Quarter 2024595
1st Quarter 2025625
2nd Quarter 2025645
3rd Quarter 2025663
4th Quarter 2025690
1st Quarter 2026694
Median sold price · GuardaLatest 1st Quarter 2026: 694 · Min 515 · Max 694 · Range 179 · CAGR +4.9%/yr

Asking vs sold

Asking-price data pending — we publish an asking figure only from a licensed source, never scraped listings, and we always label it separately from the sold (INE) median so the two are never conflated.

What does each type of property cost in Guarda?

Two official medians, kept deliberately apart. Bank appraisals are what lenders valued homes at; registered sales are what buyers actually paid. They are measured differently, published on different cadences, and are never averaged together.

Flats vs villas

Bank appraisal · INE · €/m²

Median value of bank evaluations on housing — what lenders valued property at for mortgage purposes. It is a valuation opinion, not a transacted price, so it is never mixed with the sale medians below.

Median flats vs villas price per square metre in Guarda
FlatsMedian€1,281€/m²PeriodJune 2026
VillasMedian€844€/m²PeriodJune 2026
All housingMedian€1,060€/m²PeriodJune 2026

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal — CC BY 4.0. Each row carries its own reference period, shown above.

New vs existing homes

Sold · INE · €/m²

Median value of registered dwelling sales — what buyers actually transacted at, split by whether the home was newly built or already existing. This is the sold family; it is never mixed with appraisals.

Median new vs existing homes price per square metre in Guarda
New dwellingsMedian€1,062€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
Existing dwellingsMedian€657€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
All dwellingsMedian€694€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal — CC BY 4.0. Each row carries its own reference period, shown above.

Prices are one part of the picture. Below, see how Guarda sits through the market cycle — bank appraisals against sold prices, transaction activity and rents, each drawn live from INE with its source and reference period.

Where exactly in Guarda?

Those trends describe Guarda as a whole. Below, place it on the map to see exactly where they apply — and, where the data allows, how prices vary from one part of the region to the next.

Guarda on the map

The 14 municipalities that make up the Guarda distrito. Select a municipality to open its concelho guide.

Aguiar da BeiraAlmeidaCelorico da BeiraFigueira de Castelo RodrigoFornos de AlgodresGouveiaGuardaManteigasMêdaPinhelSabugalSeiaTrancosoVila Nova de Foz Côa
  1. 1. Aguiar da Beira
  2. 2. Almeida
  3. 3. Celorico da Beira
  4. 4. Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo
  5. 5. Fornos de Algodres
  6. 6. Gouveia
  7. 7. Guarda
  8. 8. Manteigas
  9. 9. Mêda
  10. 10. Pinhel
  11. 11. Sabugal
  12. 12. Seia
  13. 13. Trancoso
  14. 14. Vila Nova de Foz Côa

Boundaries: Direção-Geral do Território — Carta Administrativa Oficial de Portugal (CAOP2025) — source — CC BY 4.0 (DGT)

Guarda district, municipality by municipality

Portugal’s statistics office (INE) does not publish transacted house prices on district boundaries — the official series is released for NUTS-III sub-regions and for individual municipalities (concelhos) only. The headline figures on this page are therefore the official medians for the Beiras e Serra da Estrela sub-region, which contains the city of Guarda; they are not a district-wide aggregate. The full district — 14 municipalities spread across the Beiras e Serra da Estrela, Viseu Dão Lafões and Douro sub-regions — is shown municipality by municipality in the breakdown below, each figure with its own INE source and reference period. We never synthesise a single district number.

Beiras e Serra da Estrela

Sub-region median: €694/m²

Median transacted price per square metre by municipality in Beiras e Serra da Estrela
GuardaMedian sold€955€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
AlmeidaMedian sold€342€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
Celorico da BeiraMedian sold€497€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
Figueira de Castelo RodrigoMedian sold€332€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
Fornos de AlgodresMedian sold€502€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
GouveiaMedian sold€525€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
ManteigasMedian sold€424€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
MêdaMedian sold€411€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
PinhelMedian sold€429€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
SabugalMedian sold€427€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
SeiaMedian sold€708€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026
TrancosoMedian sold€492€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026

Viseu Dão Lafões

Sub-region median: €990/m²

Median transacted price per square metre by municipality in Viseu Dão Lafões
Aguiar da BeiraMedian sold€474€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026

Douro

Sub-region median: €782/m²

Median transacted price per square metre by municipality in Douro
Vila Nova de Foz CôaMedian sold€423€/m²Period1st Quarter 2026

Transacted (sold) median price per square metre. Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal — CC BY 4.0. Figures are the latest available official medians; each municipality carries its own reference period, shown above.

What is living in Guarda like?

Knowing where a property sits is only half the decision — the other half is what daily life there is like. Here are the liveability signals we can source for Guarda today, each added as the data becomes available.

HealthcareINE · health access & supply

8.2doctors/1k inhab.

Medical doctors per 1,000 inhabitants · S7A2025

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), PortugalCC BY 4.0

0.3pharmacies/1k inhab.

Pharmacies per 1,000 inhabitants · S7A2025

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), PortugalCC BY 4.0

2hospitals

Hospitals · S7A2024

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), PortugalCC BY 4.0

ConnectivityINE · fixed broadband

16,916accesses

Fixed broadband Internet accesses · S7A2025

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), PortugalCC BY 4.0

SafetyINE · reported crime

24.5

crimes/1k residents

Registered crimes per 1,000 residents · 2025 crime counts over 2021 resident population

Derived: registered_crimes / population_2021 * 1000

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), PortugalCC BY 4.0

CoastINE · Blue Flag beaches

3beaches

Blue Flag beaches (regional total) · S7A2026

Regional total (NUTS3) — shared across the surrounding region, not this municipality alone. NUTS regional total broadcast to member concelhos — the WHOLE region's count, NOT this concelho's own; never sum across concelhos.

Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), PortugalCC BY 4.0

ClimateIPMA · monthly temperature

6°C–30°C

Observed range · August 2025 – August 2026

Coolest: mean daily low, November 2025 · Warmest: mean daily high, July 2026

Not a full-year normal — our IPMA observations cover August 2025 – August 2026, so the coldest winter months are not represented.

IPMA — Instituto Português do Mar e da AtmosferaFree reuse with attribution to IPMA (open-data)

Explore the full climate strip →

Guarda at a glance

The district of Guarda occupies the high, cold interior of the Beira Alta in Portugal’s central-east, wrapped around the eastern slopes of the Serra da Estrela and running to the Spanish frontier along the Côa and Águeda rivers. Guarda city itself — a walled granite cathedral town at over a thousand metres, the highest district capital in the country — anchors a strongly rural, agricultural and increasingly nature- and heritage-tourism-driven interior, with the fortified border villages of Almeida and Sabugal, the ski slopes of the Serra da Estrela above Seia and Gouveia, and the prehistoric rock-art valley of the Côa around Vila Nova de Foz Côa to the north.

Because the official price series is published by sub-region and municipality rather than by district, the headline figures above are for the Beiras e Serra da Estrela sub-region around Guarda city, with full provenance; the breakdown that follows shows every municipality in the district — including the concelhos that INE groups separately under Viseu Dão Lafões and the Douro to the north — so the wide internal spread is visible with the same discipline rather than hidden inside a single average.

What are the rules and costs in Guarda?

Lifestyle is the human side of the decision; the rules and costs are the practical one. These are the two rules that shape most purchases in Guarda — plus the guides and calculator to model your all-in costs.

Two rules shape most purchases here — whether a property can be let short-term, and what it costs to hold each year — followed by the guides and calculator to model your full purchase.

Can you run a short-term rental here?

Short-term letting (Alojamento Local, AL) in the Guarda district is a smaller, more seasonal part of the investment case than on the coast, driven by mountain and heritage tourism — winter visitors to the Serra da Estrela above Seia and Gouveia, the historic fortified border towns, and the prehistoric rock art of the Côa valley around Vila Nova de Foz Côa. It plays a modest role in Guarda city and the rural interior. AL is regulated at the municipal level under the national regime (Decreto-Lei 128/2014, as amended), and rules, registration status and any contention-style limits vary by concelho and change over time.

This is general information, not legal advice — confirm the current AL status and any local limits for a specific address with the relevant câmara municipal before assuming a property can be operated as a short-term rental.

What about annual property tax (IMI)?

Municipal Property Tax (IMI) is levied annually by each concelho within a band set nationally, so the exact rate depends on the municipality and the property’s taxable value (VPT) — the rate in Guarda can differ from that of the Serra da Estrela mountain concelhos or the border municipalities of the Beira Alta. Any specific rate we publish is sourced from the official register with its reference year; where the warehouse cannot yet source a rate it is shown as pending rather than estimated.

Common questions about Guarda

How much does property cost per square metre in Guarda?
In Beiras e Serra da Estrela, the median transacted (sold) price is about €694 per square metre (1st Quarter 2026). For comparison, the national median sold price is about €2,168 per square metre (1st Quarter 2026). Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal, CC BY 4.0.
How much do flats and villas cost per square metre in Guarda?
In Beiras e Serra da Estrela, the median bank appraisal value is about €1,281 per square metre for flats and €844 per square metre for villas (June 2026). These are lender valuations for mortgage purposes, not transacted prices. Registered sales — what buyers actually paid — ran about €1,062 per square metre for newly built homes and €657 per square metre for existing homes (1st Quarter 2026). Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal, CC BY 4.0.
What is the average rent per square metre in Guarda?
In Beiras e Serra da Estrela, the median new-lease rent — what tenants pay to let, a separate measure from any sale or asking price — is about €4.74 per square metre (1st Quarter 2026). Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal, CC BY 4.0.
What is the climate like in Guarda?
Over the August 2025 – August 2026 climate observations available for Guarda's anchor municipality, the mean daily low reached about 6.5°C (in November 2025) and the mean daily high about 30.2°C (in July 2026). This is the observed range for that window, not a full-year normal: our IPMA observations do not span a full calendar year, so the coldest winter months are not represented. Source: IPMA — Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Free reuse with attribution to IPMA (open-data).
What is the reported-crime rate in Guarda?
Guarda's anchor municipality records about 24.5 crimes/1k residents (Registered crimes per 1,000 residents, reference period 2025 crime counts over 2021 resident population). Derived as registered_crimes / population_2021 * 1000. Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal, CC BY 4.0.
What healthcare access does Guarda have?
Guarda's anchor municipality reports medical doctors per 1,000 inhabitants: 8.2 doctors/1k inhab., reference period S7A2025; pharmacies per 1,000 inhabitants: 0.3 pharmacies/1k inhab., reference period S7A2025; hospitals: 2 hospitals, reference period S7A2024. Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal.
What is internet connectivity like in Guarda?
Guarda's anchor municipality reports fixed broadband internet accesses: 16,916 accesses, reference period S7A2025. Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal.
How many Blue Flag beaches does Guarda have?
Guarda's anchor municipality reports blue flag beaches (regional total): 3 beaches (regional total, shared across the surrounding region), reference period S7A2026. Source: Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), Portugal.

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Municipalities in Guarda

Every municipality below has its own page, held to the same provenance discipline: a figure appears only when the warehouse can source it, shown with its INE source and reference period. Where it cannot, the page says so in place of the figure. Never an estimate.

Every figure on this page is drawn from the public data registry with full provenance — official sources, reference periods and licences. We publish a number only when the warehouse can source it.

Buying in Guarda?

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