Cyprus Mail 9 December 2020 - by Cyprus News Agency
In the EU in 2019, 70 per cent of the population lived in a household owning their home, while the remaining 30 per cent lived in rented housing. The highest shares of ownership were observed in Romania (96 per cent of the population owned their home), Hungary (92 per cent) and Slovakia (91 per cent).
In all Member States, owning is most common. However, in Germany, renting is almost equal with 49 per cent of the population being tenants. Austria (45 per cent) and Denmark (39 %) follow.
In Cyprus, this rate is 67.9 per cent vs 32.1 per cent and in Greece 75.4 per cent vs 24.6 per cent.
Living in a house or a flat also differs among the Member States, and also varies depending on whether you live in a city or the countryside. In the EU in 2019, 53 per cent of the population lived in a house, while 46 per cent lived in a flat (1 per cent lived in other accommodation, such as houseboats, vans etc.). Ireland (92 per cent) recorded the highest share of the population living in a house, followed by Croatia and Belgium (both 78 per cent) and the Netherlands (75 per cent). It should be noted that this includes terraced houses. In Cyprus 72.1 per cent lives in houses and 24.6 per cent in apartments.
Houses are most common in two thirds of the Member States. The highest shares for flats were observed in Latvia (66 per cent), Spain (65 per cent), Estonia (61 per cent) and Greece (59 per cent vs 40.7 per cent in houses).
In cities, 72 per cent of the EU population lived in a flat and 28 per cent in a house. For towns and suburbs, the proportions were 58 per cent and 42 per cent respectively, while for rural areas, 82 per cent of the population lived in a house and only 18 per cent in a flat.
Looking at the trend of house prices between 2010 and 2019, there has been a steady upwards trend since 2013 with particularly large increases between 2015 and 2019. In total there was an increase of 19 per cent between 2010 and 2019. There were increases in 23 Member States and decreases in three (data for Greece not available) over this period. The largest increases were observed in Estonia (+96 per cent), Hungary (+82 per cent), Latvia (+75 per cent), Luxembourg and Austria (both +65 per cent), while decreases were registered in Italy (-17 %), Spain (-7 per cent) and Cyprus (-4 per cent).
There has been a steady increase of rents in the EU between 2010 and 2019 – in total 13 per cent during the whole period. There was an increase in 25 Member States and a decrease in two. The largest increases were registered in Estonia (+156 per cent), Lithuania (+101 per cent) and Ireland (+63 per cent), while decreases were observed in Greece (-25 per cent) and Cyprus (-7 per cent).
Looking at the evolution between 2010 and 2019, house price levels compared to the EU average have increased in 17 Member States and decreased in 10. The largest increases were observed in Ireland (from 17 per cent above to 77 per cent above the EU average), Slovakia (from 44 per cent below to 23 per cent below) and the Netherlands (from 22 per cent above to 37 per cent above), and the largest decreases in Greece (from 8 per cent below to 35 per cent below the EU average) and Cyprus (from 8 per cent below to 25 per cent below).
