Czech Republic housing prices have seen the second-highest rise in the EU since 2010

No surprises: the cost of buying a flat or house in Prague – and throughout the rest of the Czech Republic – has risen sharply over the past decade.

Since 2010, housing costs are up a whopping 32% across the Czech Republic according to Evropa v datech, a Czech company that charts trends throughout the European Union.

That’s the second-largest rise over the past decade across all EU countries behind only Ireland, which saw a 33% increase over the same timeframe.

While housing costs in the Czech Republic are considerably up over the past decade, its neighbors haven’t seen prices rise to the same degree.

Slovakia and Austria have seen housing prices rise by about 20% over the past year, while Germany has seen prices go up by about 18%. Poland, meanwhile has only had a 13% increase in housing costs.

Similarly, prices in Ireland have grown nearly twice as fast as Great Britain.

What has led to the surge in Czech housing costs over the past decade?

The lack of new developments and properties on the market is a prime reason for the sharp increase in housing costs across the Czech Republic, coupled with the fact that most Czechs prefer to own their own property as opposed to renting.

A total of 78.5% of Czechs households live in self-owned property, while 21.5% of residents are renting; for comparison, the UK features a 65/35 split, while Germany is almost 50/50.

Lenient mortgage rates – though these have changed over the past two years – and the rise in popularity of services like AirBnB, with the perspective of buying real estate as an investment opportunity, may have also had a hand in the significant increase in housing costs. Especially in Prague.

Across the Czech Republic, the average resident spends about 25.4% of their earnings on housing, compared to an EU average of 24.2%.