Price index in real terms (RHPI) of residential property in Europe 2000-2023

In 2022, Luxembourg had the highest house price index (RHPI) out of the 16 European countries under observation, making it the country where house prices have increased the most since 2005. The indices were calculated for existing single-family houses, with inflation including medical and health care expenses (such as those paid by employers or through other national health programs).

Where can I find other metrics on different housing markets in Europe?

In order to assess the valuation in different housing markets, one can have a look at the house-price-to-income rations in different countries worldwide. These ratios are calculated by dividing nominal house prices by nominal disposable income per head. There are also ratios that look at how residential property prices relate to domestic rents, such as the house-price-to-rent ratio for the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, these numbers are not available in a European overview. An overview of the nominal price per square meter of an apartment in the EU-28 countries is available, however.

One region, different markets

An important trait of the European housing market is that there is not one market, but multiple. Property policy in Europe lies with the domestic governments, not with the European Union. This leads to big differences between European countries, which shows in, for example, the home ownership rate (the share of owner-occupied dwellings of all homes). These differences also lead to another problem: the availability of data. Non-Europeans might be surprised to see that house price statistics vary in depth, as every country has their own methodology and no European body exists that tracks this data for the whole continent.