Trend: house prices up 1.23% y-o-y in Q3 2018

House prices in Slovakia rose by a miniscule 1.23% during the year to Q3 2018, a slowdown from the prior year’s 4.8% growth. During the latest quarter, residential property prices were actually stable.

Analysis: Demand remains strong.  

Property demand continues to rise both from local homebuyers and foreign investors, according to local property experts. 

In Q3 2018, the total outstanding amount of housing loans rose by 10.2% to €27.16 billion (US$30.81 billion) from a year earlier, according to the ECB. Despite this, Slovakia still has one of the lowest mortgage-debt-to-GDP ratios in the EU, at 30.25% of GDP in 2017, far lower than EU 28’s ratio of about 50%.

Rents, rental yields; moderate yields at 4.47% 

Bratislava apartment costs are low at around €3,098 per sq. m. 

Slovak Rep: city centre apartment, buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
  Buying price Rate per month Yield
Bratislava € 371,760 € 1,384 4.47%

Recent news: Strong economic growth. The Slovak economy expanded by 4.6% y-o-y in Q3 2018, up from growth rates of 4.5% in Q2 2018, 3.6% in Q1 2018 and 3.5% in Q4 2017. The economy is expected to grow by 4% this year and by another 4.1% in 2019, after annual growth rates of 3.2% in 2017 and 3.3% in 2016, according to the European Commission.