House prices across the EU rose by 5.1% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with a year earlier, while rents increased by 3.0%.
Prices and rents also climbed compared with the previous quarter, with house prices up 1.2% and rents up 0.7% from the fourth quarter of 2025, Eurostat informed on Thursday.
Looking at the change between the annual average for 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, EU house prices increased by 2.9% and rents by 1.8%.
The figures come from Eurostat’s house price index — which tracks how residential property prices change over time — and its rent data.
Biggest national changes
House prices rose more than rents in 19 EU countries where data were available when comparing the first quarter of 2026 with the annual average for 2025, Eurostat reported.
Portugal recorded the largest increase in house prices over that period at 10.3%, followed by Bulgaria at 9.4% and Slovakia at 9.1%.
France and Finland were the only countries where house prices fell, down 0.5% and 1.8% respectively.
Rents increased in all EU countries except Slovenia, where they fell by 0.9%, and Finland, where they were unchanged.
Croatia saw the highest rise in rents at 21.9%, followed by Bulgaria at 6.4% and Greece at 5.0%.
