Brussels:House prices in the European Union rose by 4.7% in the second quarter of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, while rents saw a 3.0% increase.

According to Emirates News Agency, these figures were released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. When compared to the first quarter of 2026, house prices saw a smaller increase of 1.2%, and rents went up by 0.7%.

The period between 2025 and the second quarter of 2026 showed a 4.1% rise in house prices and a 2.6% increase in rents within the EU. On a national level, 18 EU countries with available data reported faster increases in house prices than rents when comparing the second quarter of 2026 with the annual average for 2025.

Bulgaria, Portugal, and Lithuania experienced the largest hikes in house prices, with increases of 14.3%, 14.2%, and 12.8% respectively. Conversely, Finland and France were the only countries to record a decline in house prices, with decreases of 1.5% and 1.4% respectively.

Rents increased across all EU countries during this period. Romania led with a significant rise of 41.2%, followed by Croatia at 22.1% and Slovenia at 10.2%. The lowest increases in rent were noted in Estonia and Finland, both at 0.1%, and Luxembourg at 1.2%.