Eurostat: Housing prices in Czechia increased the most of any EU country

Residential real estate prices in the European Union increased by 10.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022. The largest jump, though, was recorded in the Czech Republic, where prices rose by 24.7 percent, according to an analysis by European statistical office Eurostat.

Housing prices increased in all EU member states for which data was available for the first quarter of 2022, and the increase exceeded 10 percent in 17 of the 27 members.

After the Czech Republic, Estonia showed the fastest growth, where prices increased by 21.0 percent, followed by Hungary with a growth of 20.6 percent. The lowest price increases were registered in Cyprus at 1.1 percent, Finland at 4.3 percent, and Italy at 4.6 percent.

Compared with the previous quarter, housing prices also increased in all EU countries. The lowest increases were registered in Malta at 0.4 percent, Cyprus at 0.5 percent, and Germany at 0.8 percent. The highest increases were recorded in Estonia at 7.1 percent, Hungary at 6.7 percent, and Bulgaria at 5.2 percent.

Eurostat also pointed out that between 2016 and 2021, every year, housing prices increased more than inflation in 24 to 26 EU countries. In 2021, the highest differences between annual changes of house prices and the annual inflation rate were recorded in Czechia at 16.4 percent, Luxembourg and the Netherlands at 11.2 percent each, Lithuania at 11.0 percent, and Estonia at 10.2 percent.

For long-term trends in the EU, from 2010 until the first quarter of 2022, housing prices increased by 44.7 percent.

Since 2010, housing prices have more than doubled in Estonia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Austria. They increased in 24 members and decreased in three, with the highest rises in Estonia at 174.4 percent, Hungary at 151.9 percent, and Luxembourg at 130.6 percent.

Decreases were observed in Greece, down 22.6 percent, Italy down 10.4 percent, and Cyprus, down 7.9 percent.

The EU’s index looks at residential properties purchased by households such as flats, detached houses, and terraced houses. It includes both newly built and existing ones.