Residents of the Czech Republic spend the equivalent of 13.3 gross annual salaries to buy a new own 70 sqm apartment. This currently puts the Czech Republic at the top of the Property Index's ranking of unaffordability of own housing. The country with the highest average price of residential properties is the UK, where apartment prices reach a national average of 4,905 EUR per square metre. The most expensive city is again Paris, where new apartments were sold for an average of 13,462 EUR per sqm in 2021. Positive news for the residential market throughout the Europe is that the number of new initiated apartments increased compared to last year in 22 out of 23 countries.

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Out of the countries observed, the worst affordability of one's own housing is in Serbia, where citizens spend a multiple of 15.2 of their gross annual salaries on an average apartment with area of 70 m2. Compared to the previous year, situation has also worsened in the Czech Republic, where more than 12 gross annual salaries are needed on average to buy a new apartment. Among the cities in the Property Index, the most expensive new housing is in Paris, where the price of a new apartment attacks the limit of 13,000 EUR per m2. It is interesting that new construction is the most successful in Austria, which last year initiated  construction of 10.9 dwellings per 1,000 inhabitants although the average price of a new apartment is the highest among national averages.

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To acquire a dwelling of 70 sq. metres, Czechs need 11.4 average annual salaries, which is more than in any other European country. In this respect, Czechs ranked first for the fourth consecutive year, closely followed by Serbians (11.3). On the other hand, Belgians and the Portuguese placed on the opposite end of the ranking (4.0). Interestingly, apartment prices in Lisbon and Porto exceeded the Portuguese national average by 164%. The sharpest year-on-year decrease in apartment prices (9%) was seen in Oslo. Paris is no longer labelled as the most expensive city in terms of rent, having been replaced by Luxembourg, which is the only European city with monthly rent exceeding EUR 30 per sq. metre.

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The Czech Republic has become the country with the fastest-growing prices of new apartments in Europe, followed by Hungary and the Netherlands. In 2018, Czechs paid more than EUR 2,500 per square metre. This is due to the slow construction of apartments caused by lengthy approval processes, which take almost nine year on average. The most expensive apartments in Europe are, for example, in France and Norway, where the average price per square metre exceeds EUR 4,000.

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Czechs have to save for a new housing the longest among European nations. It takes the 11.3 average annual salaries. This is longer than in the UK (9.8), where real estate is the most expensive. Europeans are falling in love with rental housing. The cost of rent varies considerably in Europe. The most expensive of the compared cities is in the centre of Paris (26.4 EUR per m2) and London (26.3 EUR), the cheapest in Ostrava (6 EUR).

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Revenues from apartment rentals in the Czech Republic fluctuate within the preferred range of 4 to 6%. The best yield can be gained in the city of Ostrava. On the other hand the least affordable own housing was for the first time observed in the Czech Republic where citizens need to save almost 11 years to buy a new apartment. Prices of new residential real estate in the Czech Republic are highest compared to the Central European countries, but their year-on-year growth was not as dynamic.

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Compared to other Central European countries, the prices for new housing are the highest in the Czech Republic, however, Czechs are able to earn enough to pay for their new dwelling much faster than people in the rest of the countries. Whereas an average Czech needs an approximately 6.9 multiple of average gross annual salaries to buy a 70 square meter flat, an average Hungarian or Slovene needs more than 7 times the amount of average gross annual salaries and a Brit even 11 times the amount.

Download the publication from 2016