Older apartments rose in price by 17 percent at the end of the year, a square meter cost CZK 68,421 | News

Older apartments rose in price by an average of 17 percent year-on-year in the last quarter of last year. The median price per square meter was 68,421 crowns. Prices did not fall in any of the large Czech cities, not even in a quarter-on-quarter comparison. The reason was the insufficient supply of real estate on the market and the willingness of buyers to accept more expensive mortgages. This follows from an analysis of the real estate platform FérMakléři.cz, which is available to ČTK. The prices of older apartments rose throughout last year. In addition, experts expect their prices to rise further this year.

On average, the prices of older apartments in Ostrava and Ústí nad Labem rose by a fifth year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024. Prices rose by 15 percent in Pilsen and České Budějovice and by 12 percent in Prague. Apartments in Brno went up the least, by a tenth, and by 11 percent in Hradec Králové. According to the analysis, the price growth of older apartments is slowing in a quarter-on-quarter comparison. Compared to the third quarter, they increased by five percent on average, with the highest six percent increase recorded in Ostrava.

In absolute terms, the price per square meter in Prague rose by almost 15,000 crowns to 136,652 crowns at the end of the year. In Brno, it was possible to buy an older apartment in good condition for an average of 106,865 crowns per square meter, while the average price for an 80 square meter apartment there increased by 756,000 crowns year-on-year. In Ostrava, such an apartment was more expensive by CZK 722,000 and in Ústí nad Labem by CZK 498,000. Prices per square meter were still the lowest in both cities compared to others. In Ostrava, a square meter cost 53,509 crowns and in Ústí nad Labem 38,119 crowns.

According to the analysis, the rise in prices was a result of the insufficient supply of real estate on the market and the willingness of buyers to accept the level of interest rates on the market. According to estimates by ČSOB stavební spořitelny, banks and stavební spořitelny in the Czech Republic last year provided loans for housing financing for 305 billion crowns, 135 billion more than in 2023. The volume of mortgages was 256 billion crowns, after 137 billion the year before. The volume of building savings loans increased by 16 billion to 49 billion crowns.

According to Swiss Life Hypoindex data released today, the average mortgage rate fell again at the beginning of January, down 0.09 percentage points from the previous month to 5.13 percent. The monthly installment of a mortgage loan for 3.5 million crowns arranged up to 80 percent of the estimated value of the property (LTV) with a maturity of 25 years and an average offer rate of 5.13 percent amounted to 20,730 crowns in January. Compared to the previous year, it thus decreased by approximately 1,000 crowns.

This year, according to experts, the demand for real estate should increase again, which will lead to further price increases. Similar to last year, due to lower housing construction, and thus lower supply on the market, older apartments should also become more expensive by one percent. According to them, at the same time as owner-occupied housing, rents should also increase in a similar way.

Comparison of price trends for all sizes of apartments together by city