House prices and rents in the EU-27 have followed very different paths since 2007. While rents increased steadily throughout the period up to the first quarter of 2020, house prices have fluctuated significantly, says Eurostat.
After an initial sharp decline following the financial crisis, house prices remained more or less stable between 2009 and 2014. Then there was a rapid rise in early 2015, since when house prices have increased at a much faster pace than rents.
Over the period 2007 until the first quarter of 2020, rents increased by 20.8% and house prices by 20.5%.
House prices decreased in six EU Member States
When comparing the first quarter of 2020 with 2007, house prices increased in 21 EU Member States and decreased in 6, with the highest rises in Luxembourg (+91.4%), Austria (+91.3%) and Sweden (+82.8%).
The largest decreases are in Greece (-35.6%), Romania (-23.6%) and Ireland (-17.5%).
For rents, the pattern was different. When comparing the first quarter of 2020 with 2007, prices increased in 26 EU Member States and decreased in one, with the highest rises in Lithuania (+101.8%), Czechia (+82.2%) and Hungary (+75.1%) and the only decrease in Greece (-17.5%).
