House prices in Europe: Portugal up 18 percent, Germany still below its peak
Eurostat data for the second quarter of 2026 show a divided Europe: Prices are rising sharply in the south and east, while falling in Finland, France and Luxembourg.
Symbolic image · Photo: Diogo Baptista / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Europe’s real estate market is developing very unevenly. According to Eurostat data for the second quarter of 2026, analyzed by the portal Universe News Network on Oct. 15, house prices rose the most year-on-year in Portugal, at 18.0 percent, followed by Bulgaria at 17.6, Slovakia at 14.3, Croatia at 14.1 and Spain at 12.9 percent. Prices fell year-on-year only in Finland, Luxembourg and France; in Finland, the decline was 3.5 percent.
Germany recorded an increase of only 0.3 percent in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter and, according to the analysis, is still about 10 percent below its peak in the second quarter of 2022. France is 7.4 percent below its peak, Finland 16.5 percent. Over the long term, prices have risen the most since 2010 in Hungary, at 307 percent, Portugal at 197, and Bulgaria and the Czech Republic at 177 percent each; in Italy, they are 6 percent lower than in 2010.
For the EU as a whole, Eurostat reported a 4.7 percent increase in house prices and a 3.0 percent increase in rents in the second quarter. Greece is missing from the statistics because the Greek central bank publishes only valuation prices, not transaction prices. Britain has no longer been included since Brexit.
This article is for information only and is not legal, tax, financial or medical advice. Figures as of the date stated.