House prices and rents increased in Q2 2023

In the second quarter of 2023, house prices in the EU increased by 0.3% compared with the first quarter of 2023, while rents increased by 0.7%. 

Compared with the second quarter of 2022, house prices in the EU decreased by -1.1%, while rents increased by 3.0%. 

This information comes from data on rents and house prices published by Eurostat today. This article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article on housing price statistics.

House prices and rents in the EU followed a comparable increasing path between 2010 and the second quarter of 2011. After this quarter, house prices and rents evolved differently. While rents increased steadily throughout this period up to the second quarter of 2023, house prices fluctuated considerably. 

Source datasets: prc_hpi_q and prc_hicp_midx

After a sharp decline between the second quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2013, house prices remained more or less stable between 2013 and 2014. A rapid rise followed in early 2015, and house prices increased faster than rents until the second quarter of 2022. In the third quarter of 2022, house prices increased at the same pace as rents (both +0.7% compared with the second quarter of 2022). Since the fourth quarter of 2022, house prices fell for two quarters in a row before experiencing a small rise in the second quarter of 2023.

House prices more than doubled in Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Czechia, Luxembourg and Austria

Between 2010 and the second quarter of 2023, house prices increased by 46% and rents by 21%.

When comparing the second quarter of 2023 with 2010, house prices increased more than rents in 20 out of the 27 EU countries. 

Source datasets: prc_hpi_a, prc_hpi_q, tipsho20, prc_hicp_aind, prc_hicp_midx

Over this period, house prices more than doubled in Estonia (+211%), Hungary (+180%), Lithuania (+152%), Latvia (+144%), Czechia (+122%), Luxembourg and Austria (both +120%). Decreases were observed in Greece (-14%, see methodological notes), Italy (-8%) and Cyprus (-3%).

For rents, prices increased in 26 EU countries with the highest rises in Estonia (+208%) and Lithuania (+168%). The only decrease in rent prices was recorded in Greece (-21%).