Number of long-term rental flats in Prague highest in five years and rents are dropping

Prague has the largest number of flats available for long-term rental in the past five years, and rental prices have dropped significantly.

Compared to the same time last year, the number of apartments for long-term rent on the Prague real estate market at the end of the first three months of 2021 increased by a quarter to 15,400. The average rental price fell by 9.6 percent year on year to CZK 303 per square meter without fees. The largest number of flats available are in Prague 5, and the most expensive ones are in Prague 1, according to data from developer Trigema and the real estate server Flat Zone.

According to analytic firm AirDNA, the number of apartments offered for short-term rental fell by more than half year-on-year to 5,474 in the first quarter. At the beginning of March, one year passed since the first officially detected case of coronavirus in the Czech Republic. Subsequent measures against its spread practically stopped the arrival of foreign tourists, who especially in Prague used short-term Airbnb leases. After some relaxation in the summer months, a new wave of tightening came in the autumn.

From the individual city districts, at the end of March the largest number of flats for long-term rental were in Prague 5, with 2,336. This was followed by Prague 4 with 2,146 flats and Prague 2, with 2,084. The least were in Prague 7 with a total of 648, followed by Prague 6 with 1,096 flats, and Prague 9 with 1,195 flats.

The most expensive long-term rental was in Prague 1 with CZK 353 per square meter per month. This is followed by Prague 2 at CZK 336 and Prague 3 at CZK 308. The cheapest are in Prague 4 at CZK 277 and Prague 10 with an average rent of CZK 288 per square meter per month.

Year-on-year, rents in all parts of Prague fell in the first quarter. The largest declines were in Prague 2, which dropped 13.4 percent), Prague 3, down by 13 percent, and Prague 5, down 10.4 percent. The smallest drops were in Prague 6, down by 5.5 percent, and Prague 7, down by 6.7 percent.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, rents in the capital fell by an average of 1.6 percent. The biggest drop was in Prague 7, down by 3.2 percent). In Prague 5, 6 and 8, rents stagnated quarter on quarter, showing no change. Rents did not increase quarter on quarter in any district.

The most common type of apartments for long-term rental had two-rooms, with some 6,524 of them available at the end of March There were 4,359 one-room flats and 3,210 three-room flats. Fewer than 960 four-room apartments and almost 300 larger ones were advertised. The average area of a rented apartment in the first quarter of 2021 was 64.4 square meters.

"The future offer of short-term leases will depend on how quickly the borders can be opened. However, if the number of flats for long-term rent remains similarly high as it was at the end of the first quarter, we cannot expect this segment to become dramatically more expensive. In addition, this is compounded by the fact that a number of apartments in new buildings are increasingly being used for subsequent rental. The base of rental flats is thus further expanding," Trigema spokesman Polák said.

The current administration of Prague City Hall in April unveiled a strategy to increase the number of flats available in the city. It in part counts on reducing the number of flats available for short-term rental to tourists as well as increasing the number of affordable apartments in new housing developments.