Portugal reported a 17.8% increase in house prices, on an annual basis, in the first quarter of this year, the highest in the European Union, new data from Eurostat has revealed.
Other countries to report a notable annual increase in house prices included Bulgaria (+14.8%), Slovakia (+14.4%), Croatia (+14.3%) and Spain (+12.8%), while just one country, Finland, saw house prices decline year-on-year, by 2.0%.
Eurostat’s House Price Index showed that residential property prices rose by 4.7% across the euro area and by 5.1% across the EU compared with the first quarter of 2025.
In the final quarter of 2025, annual increases had stood at 5.1% and 5.4% respectively.
Quarterly increase
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, meanwhile, in Q1 2026 house prices increased by 1.0% in the euro area and by 1.2% across the EU compared with the fourth quarter of 2025.
The biggest quarter-on-quarter increases were recorded in Bulgaria (+6.2%), Portugal (+3.8%) and Slovakia (+3.6%), while four countries saw quarterly declines: Belgium (-0.8%), Finland (-0.8%), France (-0.6%) and Hungary (-0.5%).
Eurostat noted that the House Price Index measures changes in the prices paid by households for all residential properties, including both new and existing houses, regardless of how the property is used.
The next release, which covers house price developments in the second quarter of 2026, is scheduled for 1 October. Read more here.
Annual House Price Change by Country – Q1 2026 (%)
| Country/Region | Change (%) |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 2.0 |
| Bulgaria | 14.8 |
| Czechia | 10.0 |
| Denmark | 8.3 |
| Germany | 1.4 |
| Estonia | 5.9 |
| Ireland | 6.8 |
| Greece | n/a |
| Spain | 12.8 |
| France | 0.1 |
| Croatia | 14.3 |
| Italy | 5.2 |
| Cyprus | 3.4 |
| Latvia | 10.9 |
| Lithuania | 11.9 |
| Luxembourg | 1.7 |
| Hungary | 11.2 |
| Malta | 6.7 |
| Netherlands | 5.2 |
| Austria | 4.2 |
| Poland | 5.9 |
| Portugal | 17.8 |
| Romania | 7.8 |
| Slovenia | 9.3 |
| Slovakia | 14.4 |
| Finland | -2.0 |
| Sweden | 2.6 |
