According to Deloitte, a financial consulting company, apartment prices experienced a 1.2% decline in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter. The average price per square meter was 92,200 CZK. This decrease can be attributed to reduced demand caused by inflation, increasing mortgage rates, and rising real estate costs due to high energy expenses and ongoing construction work. However, despite the decline, apartments remain 70% more expensive than pre-pandemic levels.
Among the regions analyzed, the most significant average drop in apartment prices was observed in Liberec, where prices decreased by 15.6% compared to the last quarter of 2022. Ostrava experienced a 12.6% price reduction, while Pardubice saw a decline of 11.2%. Conversely, Usti nad Labem witnessed an average price increase of 4.4%, and Zlin observed a rise of nearly 5%. In Prague, overall prices remained relatively stable, with a slight increase of 0.2%. However, price fluctuations varied across different areas of the capital. Apartments in Prague 8 experienced a 5.5% increase in prices, followed by a 3.8% increase in Prague 3, and a 2.8% increase in Prague 9. On the other hand, prices in the city center declined significantly, with Deloitte reporting a substantial drop of 18% in Prague 1 and 12% in Prague 2.
Petr Hána, a real estate market expert at Deloitte, stated, “Apartment sales in the Czech Republic declined by 9.5% compared to the previous year, dropping from 6,046 to 5,471 units. However, the decline in the number of apartments sold in Prague was relatively less severe.”
During the first quarter of 2023, approximately 64% of all apartments sold were in Prague, while 10% were in Brno, and the remaining sales were distributed among Pilsen and other regional cities. More than half of the apartments sold were located in new buildings, with 1,605 units sold in prefabricated buildings and 1,174 units in brick buildings.
