House prices in the EU, Q2 2026: where they are rising fastest and where they fell
Published
House prices rose 4.7% in the EU and 4.0% in the euro area in the second quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier. Portugal had the largest increase, 16.5%, and prices fell in Finland, Luxembourg and France. Here are the figures for the 26 EU countries with published data.
House prices in the EU were 4.7% higher in the second quarter of 2026 than in the same quarter of 2025, according to figures that Eurostat published on 1 October 2026. In the euro area, the increase was 4.0%. Both rates are lower than in the first quarter of 2026, when prices rose 5.1% in the EU and 4.6% in the euro area. Compared with the first quarter of 2026, prices went up 1.2% in the EU and 1.1% in the euro area.
The figures come from Eurostat's house price index, which follows the purchase prices of all dwellings bought by households, new and existing, flats and houses, including the land they stand on. It measures how prices change, not how high they are. The rates are nominal: they are not adjusted for general inflation, and they are not seasonally adjusted.
The table
Ranked from the largest to the smallest annual change in the second quarter of 2026. The last column is the level of the index, with 2015 = 100, rounded to one decimal.
| Rank | Country | Change on a year earlier, % | Change on the previous quarter, % | Index, 2015 = 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portugal | 16.5 | 3.6 | 301.4 |
| 2 | Bulgaria | 15.5 | 4.5 | 284.8 |
| 3 | Lithuania | 14.3 | 5.0 | 291.0 |
| 4 | Slovakia | 13.6 | 1.4 | 225.9 |
| 5 | Croatia | 12.7 | 2.7 | 252.6 |
| 6 | Spain | 12.1 | 3.4 | 200.6 |
| 6 | Romania | 12.1 | 4.4 | 182.0 |
| 8 | Latvia | 11.4 | 3.9 | 233.5 |
| 9 | Hungary | 10.2 | -1.4 | 389.6 |
| 10 | Denmark | 9.4 | 2.8 | 165.6 |
| 11 | Slovenia | 9.1 | 3.0 | 234.2 |
| 12 | Czechia | 8.6 | 1.8 | 263.9 |
| 13 | Cyprus | 7.9 | 2.4 | 159.1 |
| 14 | Malta | 6.9 | 1.6 | 183.9 |
| 15 | Poland | 6.3 | 1.5 | 229.2 |
| 16 | Ireland | 6.0 | 0.5 | 205.9 |
| 17 | Estonia | 5.8 | 3.5 | 236.7 |
| 18 | Austria | 5.1 | 3.3 | 175.4 |
| 19 | Sweden | 4.8 | 1.9 | 139.4 |
| 20 | Netherlands | 4.3 | 0.5 | 222.6 |
| 21 | Italy | 4.0 | 1.7 | 121.0 |
| 22 | Belgium | 2.1 | 0.1 | 146.0 |
| 23 | Germany | 0.6 | 0.3 | 153.5 |
| 24 | France | -0.8 | -0.8 | 125.5 |
| 25 | Luxembourg | -2.2 | 1.1 | 166.4 |
| 26 | Finland | -2.7 | 0.3 | 97.5 |
| Greece | not published | not published | not published | |
| EU | 4.7 | 1.2 | 168.6 | |
| Euro area | 4.0 | 1.1 | 159.9 |
Where prices are rising fastest
Portugal had the largest increase: house prices there were 16.5% higher than a year earlier. Bulgaria followed at 15.5% and Lithuania at 14.3%. Lithuania also had the largest rise on the previous quarter, 5.0%, ahead of Bulgaria (4.5%) and Romania (4.4%).
Slovakia (13.6%), Croatia (12.7%), Spain and Romania (both 12.1%), Latvia (11.4%) and Hungary (10.2%) also had increases of more than 10% on the year. In total, 9 of the 26 countries with data were above that mark.
The annual rate picked up most in Cyprus, from 3.4% in the first quarter of 2026 to 7.9% in the second, and in Romania, from 7.8% to 12.1%. Hungary went the other way. Its annual rate was 21.0% in the last quarter of 2025 and 10.2% in the second quarter of 2026, and it was one of only two countries where prices fell on the previous quarter, by 1.4%.
Where prices fell
Prices were lower than a year earlier in three countries. Finland had the largest fall, 2.7%, followed by Luxembourg (2.2%) and France (0.8%). France was also the only country where prices fell both on the year and on the quarter, by 0.8% each time. In Luxembourg and Finland, prices rose slightly on the previous quarter, by 1.1% and 0.3%.
Germany was close to zero, at 0.6% on the year, and Belgium was at 2.1%. In all the other countries, prices rose by 4% or more.
How far prices have come since 2015
The last column shows the cumulative change since 2015. An index of 168.6 for the EU means that house prices were on average 68.6% higher in the second quarter of 2026 than in 2015. In Hungary, the index stood at 389.6, so prices there were almost four times their 2015 level. Portugal (301.4), Lithuania (291.0) and Bulgaria (284.8) follow.
At the other end, Finland was the only country where prices were below their 2015 level, with an index of 97.5. In Italy, the index was 121.0, and in France 125.5.
A change, not a price
The index says how fast prices are moving, not whether a home is affordable. A country where prices rose 15% can still be cheaper than a country where they fell, and a fall does not make an expensive market cheap. For how much of their income households spend on housing, see our article on the housing cost burden in Europe. For general price rises, see inflation in the EU, and for the overall cost of living, the cheapest countries in the EU to live in.
Notes on the data
- Greece does not produce this index, so it has no figure in the table. Eurostat estimates missing countries only to calculate the EU and euro area totals and does not publish those estimates.
- Provisional figures. The second quarter figures for Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Ireland, France, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia and Finland are provisional and may be revised.
- Rents are not included. The index covers purchase prices only.
- Euro area. The euro area total covers the 21 countries that use the euro in 2026.
- Next release. Eurostat plans to publish the third quarter of 2026 on 11 January 2027.
Country profiles: Portugal, Lithuania, Spain, Romania, Hungary, France, Luxembourg and Finland.
Countries in this article
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Related
Sources
- Eurostat. House price index, quarterly data (prc_hpi_q), total purchases, annual and quarterly rates of change and index 2015 = 100, second quarter of 2026 (database update of 1 October 2026). accessed .
- Eurostat. House prices up by 4.0% in the euro area, euro indicators release of 1 October 2026. accessed .
- Eurostat. Housing price statistics: house price index (prc_hpi_inx), reference metadata. accessed .