Real Estate: Prices Slow to +4.7% in Eurozone in Q1 2026

Euro area increases by 4.7%, shows slight decline

According to Eurostat, the house price index saw an annual increase of 4.7% in the euro area (EA21) in the first quarter of 2026, compared to 5.1% in the fourth quarter of 2025. On a quarterly basis (compared to Q4 2025), the increase reached 1.0% in the euro area and 1.2% in the EU. This moderation highlights a gradual slowdown in the real estate market dynamics since the peak observed in the summer of 2025 (5.2% to 5.3% in the euro area).

The European Union as a whole shows a slightly more vigorous trajectory, with an annual increase of 5.1% in Q1 2026, compared to 5.4% in Q4 2025.

Extreme Divergences Among Member States

The disparity in national performance remains extreme. Among the member states, only one country reports an annual price decrease: Finland (-2.0%). In contrast, the highest increases are concentrated in Eastern and Southern Europe. Portugal leads with +17.8% (in line with its previous results), followed by Bulgaria (+14.8%, a new entrant to the eurozone) and Slovakia (+14.4%). Spain and Croatia also show +12.8% and +14.3% respectively.

Quarter-on-quarter, four states experience a contraction (Belgium, Finland, France, Hungary, between -0.5% and -0.8%), while Bulgaria (+6.2%), Portugal (+3.8%), and Slovakia (+3.6%) see the strongest increases.

Overall Slowdown and Structural Factors

These data highlight a general slowdown in the real estate momentum in Europe following the upward cycle that accelerated between 2022 and 2025. The moderation observed (4.7% compared to 5.1% twelve months earlier) occurs in a context of interest rate normalization, while the persistence of regional volatility creates significant divergences between saturated markets (Portugal, Bulgaria, Slovakia) and sluggish areas (Finland, France with only +0.1%).