Due to the challenging task of finding one’s own home, the interest in renting properties is on the rise. According to real estate data, there are currently 28 applicants for every single rental advertisement. Consequently, rents have surged, particularly in cities with universities.
Meet Jan Hůlek, a 31-year-old resident of Prague’s Žižkov district, who secured his place to live eight years ago. He dwells in a one-plus-one apartment and pays 12,000 a month without utilities. However, over the past eight years, his rent has increased by approximately five thousand. Although his contract is indefinite, it gets updated annually with new payment terms.
Jiří Pácal from Central Europe Holding explains that rents usually escalate for two reasons. Firstly, existing contracts often include an inflation clause, and secondly, new contracts see higher demand than before.
The story of Lucie Benešová, a student from the Krkonoše Mountains, exemplifies this trend. She recently found a rental in Prague, similar to Jan Hůlek, in a one-room apartment. Nevertheless, Lucie and her boyfriend pay a higher rent of 18,000 without utilities.
The situation is similar in university towns, where students are actively seeking apartments. Zdeněk Mikulášek, a broker from Brno, has observed that vacant flats on the market are rapidly diminishing. The demand has surged significantly in recent months.
In Prague and Brno, the housing market sees the highest prices. The average rental price per square meter in the second quarter exceeded CZK 300. Conversely, the lowest rents are found in Ústí nad Labem.
Analysts predict that rents will continue to rise, with expectations of a ten percent growth by the year-end, especially in Prague, the Central Bohemian Region, and university towns, as per Lucie Starovičová, a real estate broker at Bezrealitka.
Notably, two years ago, about one-fifth of the Czech population lived in rented accommodation. Presently, this proportion has risen to a quarter, according to estimates from landlords. Despite the increase, it remains significantly lower than the proportion of people living in rented accommodation in Germany or Austria, where more than half of the population resides in rented properties.
Source: ct24.ceskatelevize.cz
