In the third quarter of 2024, according to Eurostat, residential property prices and rental rates in the EU countries increased compared to the same period in 2023. Residential property prices increased by 3.8%, while rental rates increased by 3.2%.
From 2010 to the second quarter of 2011, residential property prices and rental rates in the EU showed similar trends . However, since then their dynamics have diverged. While rental rates have continued to grow steadily, residential property prices have shown greater volatility, experiencing both periods of decline and sudden increases.
From 2010 to the third quarter of 2024, residential property prices in the EU increased by 54.1%, while rental rates increased by 26%. Cyprus was the only EU country where residential property price growth during this period was the lowest of all countries.
Analysing data for individual EU countries, there are several countries where residential property prices grew faster than rental rates. In 20 EU countries, residential property prices grew faster than rental rates in the third quarter of 2024. Particularly significant price growth was observed in Hungary and Estonia, where residential property prices increased more than 2.5 times (230%). They are followed by Lithuania (+181%), Latvia (+154%), the Czech Republic (+135%), Austria (+114%), Portugal (+113%), Bulgaria (+110%) and Luxembourg (+103%).
Italy is the only country where residential property prices fell by 4% during the period.
In terms of rental rates, growth was recorded in 26 EU countries over the same period. The largest increases in rental rates were observed in Estonia (+216%), Lithuania (+183%), Ireland (+109%) and Hungary (+108%). The only exception was Greece, where rental rates fell by 16%.
