The average price of older flats in the Czech Republic fell by nine percent year-on-year to CZK 82,351 per sqm (€3,510 per sqm), which brought an overall increase in sales by two-thirds compared to the previous year. However, Prague has seen the fewest sales of older apartments in four years. According to ČTK and HN.cz, this is the result of a study by the real estate group European Housing Services (EHS), which uses data from its founding members, Bezrealitky and Maxima Reality.
Prices of older flats in Prague have stopped falling with the spring, rising by one percent quarter-on-quarter to CZK 113,187 per sqm (€4,820 per sqm), but down 7.9 percent year-on-year, according to EHS. Sreality.cz reports that the asking price of older apartments in Prague is currently CZK 117,883 per sqm (€5,020 per sqm), down six per cent year-on-year. In the Central Bohemian Region, prices are up eight percent quarter-on-quarter and are almost the same as a year ago (CZK 76280 per sqm, i.e., €3,250 per sqm). The reason, according to EHS, is that people are moving to nearby cities. More flats were sold in Kladno, Beroun, Roztoky, Neratovice or Benešov in the first quarter than in the whole of 2021 and sales are triple the long-term average, the survey says.
The year-on-year decline in the prices of older flats has occurred in most regions, and according to EHS, they are selling at the same level as a year ago. "By summer, Real Estate Czech Republic will become a laboratory to test the region's supply and demand limits. The Czechs still have money, and the real estate market has lost none of its credibility for them," said Hendrik Meyer, head of the EHS real estate group and real estate digital service Bezrealitky. In Brno, prices of older flats have fallen by seven per cent compared to the end of 2022, and an older apartment is now selling for less than CZK 81,500 per sqm (€3,470 per sqm), the same as in the summer of 2021. This is due to a drop in supply, which has caused better quality and more expensive properties to disappear, and no more sales below cost. "Owners of Brno flats are waiting for the end of the current price storm, and if there is nothing pushing them to sell, they have no reason to accept the current prices," Meyer assessed the situation.
According to an analysis by developers Skanska Residential, Trigema and Central Group, the price difference between new-build and older apartments is expected to continue to increase. According to them, it is currently at 24 percent and is estimated to reach 30 percent in the future. The developers said that a square metre of a new apartment in Prague in the first quarter of this year cost on average CZK 1,591 (€6,470). Rents have continued to rise, reaching a new high in Prague, according to EHS, with a square metre on average being offered for CZK 338 (€14.4). The real estate site Flat Zone reports that the average rent in the capital is 407 crowns per square metre (€17.4), up 17 per cent from a year ago.
According to EHS, rents in the Central Bohemian Region are at CZK 240 per sqm (€10.2) for the first time. However, the average rental price fell in Brno to CZK 272 per sqm (€11.6 per sqm). Meyer said that a rather optimistic scenario is coming true, and although rents are becoming more expensive, in most cases this growth is around 10 percent. This is significantly less than the inflation rate, he added.
