According to Dr Aleš Pustovrh at the EECFA, which conducts research on the construction markets of 8 Eastern European countries, residential construction boom in Slovenia continues and is set to peak this year. Nevertheless, with increasing interest rates on mortgage loans, residential construction will be facing significantly lower demand in the second half of 2023.

Aleksandra Gawrońska, Director, Head of Residential Research at JLL Poland talked to Property Forum about the current recovery of the Polish residential market, the stance of banks financing new investments and the possible scenarios for the nearest future.

Analysts at Bencont Investments have recorded sales of only 197 apartments in new buildings in Bratislava in Q1 2023. According to them, the unit price of available apartments remained at €4,900/sqm. In Q1, the supply consisted of as many as 3,229 vacant apartments in new buildings. Realisation prices increased by 20% year-on-year, but there was a 1.43% quarter-on-quarter decrease. Q1 2023 was thus still marked by weakening demand, according to the quarterly real estate market analysis of Bencont.

Asking prices for homes in Romania fell on average by 0.6% in April compared to the previous month to €1,425 per sqm, according to data from Imobiliare.ro. 

Total transaction volume in the first quarter in Belgrade was €537 million, which represents a decrease of around 5 % compared to the overall amount of €563 million which was registered in the first quarter of 2022, but the overall amount spent is still extremely high, real estate agency Cordon reports.

The residential market in Romania registered a record number of deliveries of 73,332 new homes during 2022, up 3% compared to 2021, driven by the growth in regional cities, according to a report by Colliers Romania.

Ѕоfіа hаѕ ѕееn а dесlіnе іn thе numbеr оf residential trаnѕасtіоnѕ fоr a thіrd соnѕесutіvе quаrtеr. According to the latest data from the National Statistical Institute for the first quarter of the year, property sales in the capital shrank annually by 12.2% and reached 6381.

High inflation and rising interest rates seem to have bitten in overall consumption. And although Serbia is likely to avoid recession in the short run, its real GDP growth is estimated to be a moderate 2%-4% this year and next with a downside risk being the looming recession in the EU. The rental housing market has been supported by the Russian and Ukrainian citizens settling down in Serbia, keeping rent rates high. Housing construction is still strong and although the volumes in building construction are already consolidating, big infrastructure projects could sustain civil engineering on all-high levels in the mid-term, according to Dejan Krajinović (Beobuild Core d.o.o.) at EECFA which conducts research on the construction markets of 8 Eastern-European countries, including Serbia.

In Q4 2022, Hungarian residential property prices fell by 3.6% compared to the previous quarter. The Central Bank of Hungary (MNB) reports the sharpest decline was seen in smaller municipalities.

Crestyl has unveiled its new residential project. The project will be built next to the vast Šárka Nature Park in Prague 6 on the site of the current Šárka Business Park industrial and logistics complex (former Aritma). The new free-access residential area with park areas will include 18 villas with a total of 224 apartments, six family houses near the border with the forest land, a kindergarten and premises for services and shops. The architectural and urban design of the buildings and public spaces emphasises the connection with the nearby forest. The project received final planning permission in February this year. Construction of the first phase, which will include 108 apartments, is scheduled to start next year. The total investment will exceed four billion crowns (€170.15 million).