When comparing the first quarter of 2023 with 2010, house prices increased more than rents in 18 EU countries.
Over this period, house prices increased in 24 EU countries and decreased in three. They more than doubled in Estonia (+200%), Hungary (+180%), Lithuania (+146%), Latvia (+132%), Luxembourg (+126%), Czechia (+123%) and Austria (+122%). Decreases were observed in Greece (-14%), Italy (-9%) and Cyprus (-2%).
For rents, prices increased in 26 EU countries and decreased in one, with the highest rises in Estonia (+212%) and Lithuania (+165%). The only decrease was recorded in Greece (-22%).
I did the maths on my parent’s first home, which they brought in the early 80s for the equivalent of €35,000 when adjusted for inflation. Today, the same house sells for more than ten times that amount. Within one generation, we’ve made it so that one home for boomers now costs the equivalent of an entire street of houses for their children.