Portugal has the highest rate of rural population in Western Europe, which means that roughly a third of the Portuguese families live in farms or properties outside urban areas.
This caused historical areas of Lisbon, Porto and other cities to become depopulated, though the younger generations now have a growing interest on buying and repairing these old buildings.
Another strange, but somewhat common sight in Portugal, are the Swiss-like chalets, built by Portuguese people who lived in Switzerland or Germany.
Other areas where apartments are usually rented are sea resorts and the Algarve, this last region having many British, Irish, Dutch, German and French residents.
However, luxury housing is an important market in Portugal, especially in the larger cities, as well as in Algarve, Cascais and the South Bank of the Tejo.
All of the real estate market in Portugal is still recovering from a crisis, which means there are many empty houses in the suburbs, as well as construction firms in financial trouble.