House prices and rents increase in the EU in Q2 2024

EU house prices rents
(Source: Eurostat)

In the second quarter of 2024, house prices in the EU increased by 1.9% and rents by 0.7% compared with the first quarter of 2024, Eurostat data showed. Compared with the second quarter of 2023, house prices went up by 2.9%, while rents increased by 3.0%.

(Source: Eurostat)

House prices and rents in the EU followed a similar pattern between 2010 and the second quarter of 2011 but have since evolved differently. While rents have increased steadily, house prices have followed a more variable pattern, combining periods of decline followed by rapid increases. Between 2010 and the second quarter of 2024, house prices increased by 52% and rents by 25%.

House prices more than doubled in 9 EU countries since 2010

When comparing the second quarter of 2024 with 2010, among the EU countries for which data are available, house prices increased more than rents in 20 countries. House prices more than tripled in Estonia (+232%) and Hungary (+218%) and have more than doubled in Lithuania (+178%), Latvia (+146%), Czechia (+131%), Austria (+111%), Portugal (+106%), Luxembourg (+103%) and Bulgaria (+102%). House prices did not change in Cyprus and decreased in Italy (-5%).

For the same period, rents increased in 26 EU countries, with the highest rises registered in Estonia (+203%), Lithuania (+178%), Ireland (+106%) and Hungary (+104%). The only decrease in rent prices was recorded in Greece (-18%).

In a separate release Eurostat said that in the second quarter of 2024, house prices, as measured by the House Price Index, increased by 1.3% in the euro area and by 2.9% in the EU compared with the same quarter of the previous year. In the first quarter of 2024, house prices fell by 0.3% in the euro area and rose by 1.5% in the EU.

Compared with the first quarter of 2024, house prices increased by 1.8% in the euro area and by 1.9% in the EU in the second quarter of 2024.

House price developments in the EU Member States

Among the Member States for which data are available, six showed an annual decrease in house prices in the second quarter of 2024, and twenty showed an annual increase. The largest falls were registered in Luxembourg (-8.3%), Finland (-4.8%) and France (-4.6%), while the highest increases were recorded in Poland (+17.7%), Bulgaria (+15.1%), Lithuania (+10.4%) and Croatia (+10.0%).

Compared with the previous quarter, prices decreased in two Member States, remained stable in one (Hungary) and increased in twenty-three Member States. The falls were registered in France and Belgium (both -0.2%), while the highest increases were recorded in Croatia (+4.3%), Portugal (+3.9%) and Spain (+3.6%).

(Source: Eurostat)