Residential property prices in the EU, measured by the house price index, rose 6.1 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year, the strongest since the third quarter of 2007.

At the end of 2020, according to revised Eurostat data, they increased by 5.8 percent.

The same percentage growth was recorded in prices in the euro area, but at the beginning of this year, the strongest since the fourth quarter of 2006, notes Eurostat. In the last quarter of last year, they had risen by a revised 5.6 percent.

Jump in Luxembourg

Among the EU countries whose data Eurostat had at its disposal, the highest growth in residential real estate prices was recorded in the first quarter of this year by Luxembourg, by 17 percent compared to the same period last year.

Denmark and Lithuania follow with price increases of 15.3 and 12 percent, respectively.

In Croatia, residential real estate prices rose by 4.6 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, the weakest since the second quarter of 2018, according to Eurostat data. In the last quarter of 2020, they were up 6.4 percent.

Their growth has been weak since the end of 2019, when they jumped 10 percent.

Residential real estate fell in price in Cyprus alone, by 5.8 percent from the first quarter of last year.

Eurostat did not have data for Greece.

Steady growth in the EU and the euro area

Compared to the previous three months, residential property prices in the EU rose by 1.7 percent between January and March. They were up 1.4 percent in the last quarter of last year.

In the eurozone, their growth slowed slightly, to 1.3 percent, from 1.4 percent at the end of last year.

Among EU countries, the prices of residential real estate in Estonia increased the most in the period from January to March, according to available Eurostat data, by 6.6 percent

They are followed by Denmark and Lithuania, where they jumped 5.8 and five percent, respectively.

In Croatia, residential real estate prices rose by 0.9 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of 2020, when they increased by 2.5 percent, according to a Eurostat report.

Only Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia recorded a quarterly decline in prices in the first quarter, by 5.8 percent, 1.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.

Source: seebiz.eu