The next real estate revolution could start inside a factory!

These are important issues, but there is another dimension that rarely occupies the centre of the discussion: the way we build. We continue to look at housing construction essentially as an activity carried out on a construction site, dependent on multiple teams, successive processes and a high labour intensity. Meanwhile, in other European markets, signs of a transformation that could profoundly change the sector are beginning to emerge. Construction is getting closer and closer to industry, through prefabrication, modular production and the use of factory-developed and factory-produced components.

A recent study by the Heinze Marktforschung on the evolution of the German construction sector presents particularly interesting figures. In the first half of 2026, permits for housing in multi-family buildings built with prefabricated methods increased by 52.1%, while in conventional construction the growth was 11.7%. Even more significant was the 126.3% increase in permits for prefabricated dwellings intended for rent. Although these solutions still represent only 13.2% of the German market for licensed multi-family housing, the figures reveal a trend that deserves attention. We are not only facing a change in materials or construction techniques, but a possible transformation of the construction economic model itself.

For Portugal, this evolution should give rise to a particularly important reflection. We need to increase the housing supply, but at the same time we face difficulties in the availability of skilled workers, high construction costs, small businesses and a productive capacity that does not automatically increase when demand grows. Industrialised construction can help to respond to part of these challenges, allowing the production of components in controlled environments, reducing waste, improving coordination between specialities, and making certain deadlines and costs more predictable. It does not mean that all houses will be the same, nor that architecture will lose importance. It simply means that an increasing part of what we do individually today in each project can be produced through more efficient industrial processes.

There is also an economic opportunity that goes beyond the real estate market itself. Portugal has relevant skills in the building materials industry, metalworking, ceramics, wood, engineering and industrial technologies. The evolution towards more industrialised construction systems may create new opportunities for these companies, allowing them to develop solutions aimed not only at the national market, but also for export. At the same time, prefabrication can play an important role in the rehabilitation and expansion of existing buildings, through facades, structures, modules and other industrially produced components. Naturally, this transformation requires investment, scale, qualification and project continuity. It also does not eliminate land costs, licensing problems or financing difficulties. But it can contribute to solving an issue that remains little discussed: the effective capacity to produce the housing we need.

For decades, many industries have been able to significantly improve their efficiency through automation, process standardisation, and production in industrial environments. Housing construction has evolved technologically, but it continues to rely to a large extent on execution models that are difficult to scale. Portugal today has an opportunity to look at this activity not only as a sector that needs to build more buildings, but as an industry that also needs to transform. Because the response to the housing crisis does not depend exclusively on how many houses we want to build. It also depends on our ability to build them better, with greater predictability and in an economically sustainable way.

Perhaps the next big transformation of the real estate market will not start in a new development, but inside a factory.