Giving up on buying? Czech housing hopes fade as costs climb

For many Czechs, buying a home is becoming something they no longer expect to achieve. More than six in 10 people without their own property believe homeownership is beyond their reach, according to a survey by Generali Investments.

Another quarter have postponed buying because of rising prices. Meanwhile, existing homeowners are determined to hold on: just 2 percent of mortgage holders would consider selling and renting if interest rates rose further.

The findings highlight a growing divide between those struggling to enter the housing market and those stretching their budgets to stay in it. The survey included more than 1,000 respondents in Czechia and another 3,000 across Slovakia, Poland and Hungary.

Nearly nine in 10 Czech respondents expect housing affordability to worsen, compared with six in 10 seven years ago, according to Generali Investments real assets director Marek Bečička.

An increasing share of the public no longer expects a substantial improvement within a few years and is adjusting long-term plans accordingly, he said.

Three-quarters believe property prices will continue rising at their current pace. Only 9 percent expect prices to fall. These figures reflect respondents’ expectations rather than a forecast of market developments.

Saving for a purchase is also becoming harder. Sixteen percent of Czech respondents said they had nothing left at the end of the month to put toward their own housing, up from roughly one in nine last year.

The survey found that 65 percent lived in owner-occupied housing, 25 percent rented and 10 percent stayed with relatives or friends. Among respondents under 35, one in four lived with their parents.

According to the findings presented by Generali Investments, the proportion living with parents has doubled over the past two years.

Only 27 percent of Czech respondents considered a mortgage more advantageous than renting, the lowest share among the four countries surveyed.

Generali’s illustrative calculations show how the costs have changed. Five years ago, an average mortgage of approximately CZK 3.2 million carried a modeled monthly payment of CZK 12,900 over 30 years. Today, an average loan of CZK 4.6 million produces a modeled payment of approximately CZK 25,500.

That represents a 97 percent increase in the illustrative payment, compared with average wage growth of 33 percent over the same period. Individual payments depend on the loan amount, interest rate and repayment term.

Existing borrowers also reported limited financial flexibility. More than half said they could not absorb an increase of more than CZK 2,000 a month when their fixed-rate period ends.

Approximately one in six could afford no increase at all, while another 38 percent had room for a rise of no more than CZK 2,000.

Yet selling remains an option few would consider. The survey suggests that while prospective buyers are increasingly revising their ambitions, mortgage holders remain committed to keeping their homes—even at a higher monthly cost.