Producer construction price indices for new homes in the EU increased from 2010 to 2022, but especially from 2021 to 2022. Growth for the entire period was 40%. Among the member states, the greatest growth was observed in Hungary (+124%), Bulgaria (+103%) and Romania (+97%), writes Eurostat. Greece was the only member state to show a decrease.

Is the house available?

As home prices and rents rise, housing costs can be a burden. This can be measured by calculating the proportion of the population living in a household where total housing costs are more than 40% of disposable income.

In the EU, 10.6% of the urban population lived in such a household, while in rural areas the corresponding figure was 6.6%.

The highest urban housing costs were observed in Greece (27.3%) and Denmark (22.5%), and the lowest in Slovakia (2.3%) and Croatia (2.6%). In rural areas, they were highest in Greece (24.2%) and Bulgaria (18.1%), and lowest in Malta (0.2%) and Cyprus (0.5%).

Almost 20% of disposable income goes to housing

Another way to determine whether housing is affordable is the ratio of housing costs to total disposable income. On average in the EU, about 20% of disposable income was spent on housing costs. This varied between member states, with the highest proportions in Greece (34.2%), Denmark (25.4%) and Germany (24.5%).

Although house prices and rents rose between 2010 and 2022, the proportion of people living in households with mortgage, rent or utility debt fell in the EU from 12.4% in 2010 to 9.2 % in 2022. These shares decreased in 22 member states and increased in 5.

The highest shares were observed in Greece (45.5%), Bulgaria (19.9%), Romania (18.4%) and Croatia (15.7%), and the lowest in the Czech Republic (2.7%), the Netherlands (2 .9%), Belgium (4.2%) and Austria (4.7%).

About 9% of the EU population did not have the opportunity to keep enough heat in the house

The quality of life is affected not only by the number of people living in the house, but also by the quality of the housing, for example, the ability to keep heat in the house, the lack of a toilet, shower and bath in the room, as well as a leaky roof, wet walls. , floor or foundation or rotten window frames or floors.

In the EU in 2022, 9.3% of the population did not have the opportunity to keep enough heat at home. The highest rates were observed in Bulgaria (22.5%), Cyprus (19.2%) and Greece (18.7%), and the lowest in Finland (1.4%), Luxembourg (2.1%) and Slovenia (2 .6%).

About 1.5% of the EU population did not have a toilet, shower or bathroom at home. This was most common in Romania (21.2% of the population), followed by Bulgaria and Latvia (both 7.0%), and Lithuania (6.4%).

For roof leaks, wet walls, floors or foundations, or rotting window frames or floors, 14.8% of the EU population had this problem in 2020. The highest rates were observed in Cyprus (39.1%), Portugal (25.2%). %). and Slovenia (20.8%).

Evolution of housing prices and rents; prices increased by 47% in the EU between 2010 and 2022

Looking at the house price trend between 2010 and 2022, there has been a steady upward trend since 2013, with a particularly large increase between 2015 and 2022. In total, between 2010 and 2022, there was an increase of 47%. 24 years old. Member States and decreased by 2 during this period (data for Greece not available). The largest increase was observed in Estonia (+192%), Hungary (+172%) and Luxembourg (+135%), while the decrease was recorded in Italy (-9%) and Cyprus (-5%).

Rent increased by 18%

From 2010 to 2022, the EU saw a steady increase in rents – a total of 18% over the entire period. Growth was observed in all member countries except Greece (-25%). The greatest growth was recorded in Estonia (+210%), Lithuania (+144%) and Ireland (+84%). In Cyprus, the growth was only +0.2%.

Inflation: prices rose by 28%

In the period from 2010 to 2022, inflation in the EU amounted to 28%. During this period, annual inflation was clearly the highest in 2022 – 9.2%. Between 2010 and 2022, inflation was observed in all Member States, with the highest values ​​in Estonia (56%), Hungary (53%), Lithuania (49%) and Romania (47%). The smallest price increase was observed in Greece (12%), Cyprus and Ireland (both 16%).

The cost of housing in the member states differs significantly from the EU average. The highest housing costs in 2022 compared to the EU average were in Ireland (112% higher than the EU average), Luxembourg (87% higher) and Denmark (82% higher). The lowest, on the contrary, was observed in Bulgaria (63% below the EU average) and Poland (60% below).

Looking at developments between 2010 and 2022, the level of house prices compared to the EU average rose in 17 Member States and fell in 10. The biggest increases were seen in Ireland (from 17% above the EU average to 112% above the EU average) and Slovakia . (from 44% below the EU average to 3% below the EU average), and the largest decrease in Greece (from 8% below to 30% below the EU average) and Cyprus (from 8% below to 23% below the EU average ).