According to preliminary estimates by Statistical Office, in the first quarter of 2020 the House Price Index increased by 0.9% compared with the previous quarter and by 1.7% compared with the same quarter of the previous year.
The increase on annual basis of House Price Index, the largest since the second quarter of 2011, was due both to the prices of new dwellings that showed a positive rate of change equal to +0.9%, (from +1.4% in the previous quarter) and above all to the prices of existing dwellings that increased on annual basis by 1.9%.
The increase of House Price Index occured in a context of a sharp drop of the volumes of sales (it was -15.5% the annual rate of change registered for the residential sector in the first quarter of 2020.
The increase on quarterly basis in the House Price Index was due only to the prices of existing dwellings that rised by 1.2%, whereas those of new dwellings decreased by 1.2%.
