According to the data announced on 25 March 2019 by the Statistics Service, the cost of housing in Slovenia increased by 18.2% in 2018. The number of sold apartments in the primary market remained extremely low for the second year in a row. The cost of apartments in the secondary market of Slovenia increased by 19.8% in 2018. In total, 9,421 transactions were conducted, which is 14% less than in 2017.
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In the average annual measurement, private houses in the secondary market rose in price most significantly – by 38.6%. Prices for apartments in the secondary market increased by 12.6% on average in the country, and by 8% – in Ljubljana. Prices for new private houses rose by 5.2%, while the cost of apartments in the primary market grew by 3.3%.
In the inter-quarter dimension, the cost of new apartments rose by 2.8%. As compared to 2015, the cost of apartments in the primary market was higher by 23.9% in the fourth quarter of 2018. Besides, only 38 apartments and 24 houses were sold in the primary market in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The cost of secondary housing (apartments and houses as a whole) in the inter-quarter average grew by 6.9%: apartment prices rose by 4.1%, and prices for private houses grew by 11.9%. The number of sold apartments and houses on the secondary market remained high – 1,757 apartments and 632 houses were sold.
Only in the third quarter of 2018, houses and apartments went up in price by 13% on a year-on-year basis. According to Eurostat, this is the most significant growth in the European Union, which even outpaced the figures of the Netherlands and Ireland. According to the Statistics Service, housing prices in the country rose by 2.3% on a quarterly basis in the third quarter of 2018, as reported by the Global Property Guide.
Over the year, in Ljubljana, the average value of residential real estate on the secondary market increased by 6.9% up to the end of the third quarter of 2018, while, on a quarterly basis, this figure decreased by 1.5%. In the rest of Slovenia, the secondary real estate grew in price by 8.6% over the year, and by 2.3% for one quarter.
At the same time, housing sales are declining. According to the Statistics Service, in the third quarter of 2018, the number of transactions fell by 17.2% as compared to the same period in 2017. The most significant decline was recorded in the segment of new buildings, where the number of transactions fell by more than half (-58.3%) as compared to 2017. In the secondary housing segment, the annual decline was 14.5%. The decline in sales is due to a shortage of facilities in the market, despite strong demand.
According to Knight Frank, Slovenia is named the country, in which the most rapid growth in housing prices in 2018 was recorded. The Global House Price Index study covers the fourth quarter of 2018, as reported by StroyObzor. The top 10 countries with the most rapid price increases are as follows:
1. Slovenia +15.1%
2. Malta +11.8%
3. China +10.7%
4. Hungary +10.4%
5. Mexico +9.9%
6. Turkey +9.7%
7. Czech Republic +8.7%
8. Latvia +8.6%
9. Netherlands +8.4%
10. Singapore +8.3%
Sources: siol.net, stroyobzor.ua, prian.ru
