A large part of this increase is due to inflation. Excluding inflation, the increase is 4.4%, according to the latest report published by the Housing Observatory.
Flats under construction saw the greatest increase (+18.3%).
According to the Housing Observatory, consultations with real estate professionals indicate that this “abnormal” increase could be attributable to new sales contracts. Previously, prices were indexed, but in order to provide more security to the clients, several developers changed this, resulting in an increase in the final price.
In any case, the price increase has an impact on the sale of flats under construction. Sales fell by a third in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2021. The majority of developers have decided “not to lower the sales prices of marketed properties, even if it means facing difficulties in selling them,” according to the report.
A similar trend was observed for other properties as well.
Sales of existing flats are down by 10%, houses by 13%, and building land by 25%.
Just one example: during the summer months, just over 1,300 flats were sold, including almost 300 future constructions for around €900 million. This corresponds on average to almost €700,000 for a flat, and there were 600 fewer flat sales than in the summer of 2019.
Rents have also risen by 4.7% since 2021. In the third quarter of 2022 alone, rents increased by 2.1%.
However, this increase is still below inflation, which rose by 6.7% between Q3 2021 and Q3 2022.
