This paper comes from several studies regarding housing dynamics and housing policies in Portugal in last four decades. In this specific case, we propose a reflection divided in two parts: The first one intends to be an effort to identity new trends in housing dynamics, trying to evaluate the impact of the economic and financial crises on housing markets, both on public and private markets. Obviously, we cannot do that without a contextualization of the principal dynamics that have been shaping the specificity of the Portuguese housing market. However, we are looking for new trends that come from a complex context: economic and financial constraints both of the state and families; difficulties in obtaining bank loans; devaluation of real estate; crash of real estate companies; families in difficulties to pay mortgages. Those recent trends combine with other ones resulting from demographic, family and labor market changes and together seems to design new qualitative and quantitative housing needs, new ways of affordability, questioning the traditional Portuguese housing dynamics. But this new reality also requires new ways of public intervention and regulation. This question leads to the second part of this paper where is intended to reflect about public policies and the impact of less intervention of public sector in social policies in general and in housing policies in particular. But this is a pretext to rethink public intervention on housing domain, taking into account the severe financial constraint, the new housing needs and considering housing policies as a part of a city and development policies. In this specific context, what should be the role of the state? What should be the financial model, sharing resources and responsibility between state, municipalities and enterprises? How to do to reuse existing urban and housing resources? How to design programs to support insolvent families and low-income middle classes? How to assure a more flexible and sustainable housing system?

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Housing markets, Southern Europe, Crisis