After a record-breaking end to 2024, the residential new-build market in Bratislava has cooled slightly in Q1 2025. According to data from BuiltMind in cooperation with Cushman & Wakefield, 527 units have been sold in the first quarter of 2025.
Total sales fell by 60% compared to the previous quarter. However, demand remained above average and is comparable to the best quarters during the pandemic. The market maintained a supply of around 3,200 units, almost identical to Q4 2024. The absorption rate fell from a record 25% to around 16%, but it is still the second-highest figure since mid-2022. The average asking price increased to €5,400 per sqm, an increase of almost 4% compared to Q4 2024.
In terms of total sales (public and private), Cresco Real Estate dominated with 65 units sold, followed by Penta Real Estate (47) and YIT (42). The best-selling project was Downtown Yards (JTRE) with 32 sales, while the Bory, Kvarter, and Čerešne projects also had strong results.
Demand has long been concentrated on smaller apartments, which together account for almost 70% of sales. Over the past year, 52% of the total supply of new bedroom + kitchen corner layouts was sold, while the smallest units up to 30 sqm were even more liquid and approximately two-thirds of the supply was sold. The best-selling projects in this category were Ovocné Sady and Bory.
BuiltMind expects that over the next two years, the Bratislava market will stabilise at 550–750 sales per quarter, with average prices approaching €5,600 per sqm by the end of 2025 and reaching €6,000 per sqm during 2026.
The base interest rate has fallen for the third time since the beginning of the year to the current value of 2.40% and, according to ECB surveys, a further decline to 2% is expected by the end of 2025. This trend contributes to a slight decrease in mortgage interest rates, thereby improving the availability of housing finance, as evidenced by the stable growth of housing loans in recent months. On the other hand, the expected inflation above 4% during the year, combined with the fact that average mortgage rates in Slovakia are still among the highest in the eurozone, with a difference of more than 0.50 percentage points compared to the average, hinders a more significant growth in sales. However, the market outlook remains positive.
