The General Director of Century 21 Portugal and Finance21, Ricardo Sousa, announced that a new platform will transform previously manual processes, such as credit simulation, document analysis, financial capacity assessment, bank communication, credit approval, and final contracting, into automated functions.
Ricardo Sousa explained that Finance21 reverses the traditional home financing model by first evaluating a customer’s financial capacity and determining how much they can afford on a home before starting the house-hunting process.
“It makes the house selection process more realistic. Especially now, given the imbalance between family income and house prices, people need to be more mindful” when choosing a home to purchase, he stated.
He added that with business dynamics and the launch of Finance21, Century21 expects to exceed 1,000 million euros in brokered credit volume by 2026, assisting a total of 6,000 families.
This figure, if achieved, would double the current annual average of 500 million euros and surpass the 750 million euros the group projects for 2025.
Century 21 reports that, on average, customer effort rates (debt relative to income) are below 35%, and the loan-to-value ratio is under 75%.
The Finance21 platform is also accessible to individuals not purchasing homes through the Century 21 network for financial capacity evaluation. According to Ricardo Sousa, it’s estimated that 40% of real estate buyers acquire homes directly from developers, builders, friends, and acquaintances.
The Century 21 agency network boasts over 400 agents across more than 200 locations in Portugal.
Century 21 Portugal’s revenue rose by 31% to 116.8 million euros in 2024 compared to 2023, with the real estate company surpassing 25,000 transactions and increasing sales by 18% to 4,300 million euros.
Not all sales involve brokered credit, as many clients engage directly with banks or do not require financing.
