Estonia is home to the fastest rising annual property prices in the EU, a new report shows.
The Baltic Region
Recently released figures from Eurostat reveal that house prices in the Baltic nation rose by 7.7 per cent between the first quarter of 2012 and the same time this year. The upturn in the country’s property fortunes is said by most experts to be the result of improved lending conditions imposed by the country’s government in an attempt to boost prices.
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Estonia’s Baltic neighbour, Latvia, also saw a healthy annual increase in property prices (7.2 per cent), while Luxembourg (4.3 per cent), Sweden (4.1 per cent), Malta (3.9 per cent) and the UK (2.2 per cent) all recorded healthy annual price growth.
However, the property markets in many European nations, especially those located in southern Europe, are continuing to struggle. In total, property prices in the EU fell by 2.2 per cent in the year to March 2013.
The biggest losses were seen in Spain, where house prices fell by 12.8 per cent between the first quarters of 2012 and 2013, while Portugal (-7.2 per cent) and Italy (-5.7 per cent) are also showing little signs of recovery. There were no figures for Greece.
Away from southern Europe, Property prices in the Netherlands have also taken a tumble, down 7.2 per cent from the same time last year, while Slovenia recorded property price losses of 4.3 per cent.