House prices in Cyprus rose 7.9 per cent year on year in the second quarter of 2026, well above the EU average of 4.7 per cent, while the number of property sales grew 13.6 per cent in the first quarter and 17.1 per cent in the second, Eurostat figures show.
Cyprus and Austria are seeing a rise in construction and home buying, while sales have fallen sharply in Croatia and Luxembourg.
Rents in Cyprus rose by about 4 per cent compared with the 2025 average. By comparison, rents climbed 41.2 per cent in Romania, 22.1 per cent in Croatia and 6.2 per cent in Greece. Cyprus also has the lowest share of young people living in overcrowded conditions in the EU, at 3.5 per cent.
Among the countries listed, Croatia recorded the steepest annual drop in sales, down 42.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2026 and 33.3 per cent in the second. Sales there had already fallen 4.1 per cent in 2025, as sales of existing properties declined 7.2 per cent.
Luxembourg’s sales slid 35.1 per cent in the second quarter, after jumping 47.1 per cent in 2024. Sales of new-build homes there had risen 36.2 per cent in 2025.
In Bulgaria, sales declined 18.5 per cent and 18.1 per cent in the first two quarters of 2026. Sales of existing properties there had fallen 5.0 per cent in 2025.
Finland’s sales dropped 17.7 per cent in the second quarter, while sales of new-build homes had fallen 22.3 per cent in 2025. Portugal saw a smaller fall of 8.7 per cent in the first quarter.
In all the countries examined, fewer new-build homes than existing ones were sold, meaning changes in existing-property sales largely determine the overall direction of each market.
