House prices up 9.13% y-o-y in Q2 2020

House prices in Slovakia rose by 9.13% in Q2 2020 from a year earlier, a sharp improvement from the previous year’s 3.74% growth and its biggest y-o-y increase since Q3 2008. On a quarterly basis, real house prices increased 3.43% during the latest quarter.

Demand remains strong.  

Despite the pandemic, property demand, both from local and from foreign investors, remains fundamentally strong.

In June 2020, the total outstanding amount of housing loans rose by 9.5% to €32.3 billion (US$ 38.2 billion) from a year earlier, following a growth of 9.7% in 2019, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). Despite this, Slovakia still has one of the lowest mortgage-debt-to-GDP ratios in the EU, at about 32.7% of GDP in 2019, far lower than EU 28’s ratio of about 50%.

Rents, rental yields; moderate yields at 4.53% 

Bratislava apartment costs are low at around €2,911 per sq. m. 

Slovak Rep: typical city centre apartment buying price, monthly rent (120 sq. m)
	Buying price	Rate per month	Yield
Bratislava	€ 349,320	€ 1,320	4.53%

Recent news: In Q2 2020, the Slovak Republic’s economy contracted by a whopping 12.1% from a year earlier, following a 3.7% contraction in Q1, as the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns delivered a heavy blow to economic activity, according to Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. It was the biggest contraction ever recorded. The economy is projected to shrink by 6.7% this year, following annual expansions of 2.3% in 2019 and 4% in 2018, based on estimates released by the European Commission.