Prague property prices down for first time since 2011
The price of flats in Prague has gotten cheaper by 0.3 percent according to data for the past three months, the first drop since 2011, according to the Czech Statistics Agency. However, experts say they do not expect any sharp decrease or increase. Meanwhile, prices for flats outside Prague continue to grow, Czech Radio’s news site iRozhlas reports.
Currently the price of a 60 square metre new flat in Prague lies at around CZK 6 million, while an old one of the same size lists for about CZK 5 million on average.
Association of Mortgage Brokers head Petr Kruntorád also says no major decrease in Prague property prices is likely. He told Czech Radio that if more property were available, prices would of course go down – but not dramatically. Most likely in this case would be the decrease in the price of pre-fabricated panel building flats, the so-called paneláky, which he says are currently overpriced.
Outside of the Czech capital, prices continue to grow, by 2 percent in the past three months, but Mr. Novotný does not expect this to continue.
Currently, the price of a 60 square meter flat in South Moravia ranges around CZK 3 million, while in the traditionally poor Ústí nad Labem Region the cost is closer to CZK 1.24 million. Meanwhile, the increase in the price of rents seems to have slowed down.
Data from the website Ideální nájemce (Ideal tenant) shows that the year-on-year increase in the cost of renting a 2+KK flat stayed roughly the same compared to March in Prague, where it rose by 3.1 percent.
However, price increases went down by 4 percent in Brno, as well as Plzen and by 15 percent in Ostrava.
Mortgage interest rates have also registered a decrease according to Fincenter’s Hypoindex website. While in May the average lay at 2.8 percent, in June it went down to 2.76 percent.
According to Martin Březina from the Ideální nájemce website, the most popular flats currently are 2+KKs and 2+1s, followed by single room and three room flats, iRozhlas reports.
