PROPERTY: Cyprus house prices saw fourth highest rise in Europe in Q4 2018

House prices in Cyprus rose by an annual 1.6% in the last three months of 2018 but on a quarterly basis growth was a higher 3.5%, the fourth biggest increase in Europe, official data showed Thursday.

According to a preliminary estimates, the House Price Index (HPI) in Q4 2018 stood at 106.95 units.

Compared to Q3 2018, the HPI increased 3.5% while compared to the Index of the same quarter in 2017, the HPI increased 1.6%.

House prices, as measured by the House Price Index, rose by 4.2% in both the euro area and the EU in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter of the previous year and by 1.6% in Cyprus, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Compared with the third quarter of 2018, house prices rose by 0.7% in the euro area, by 0.6% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2018 and by 3.5% in Cyprus.

Among the Member States for which data are available, the highest annual increases in house prices in Q4 2018 were recorded in Slovenia (+18.2%), Latvia (+11.8%) and Czechia (+9.9%) while prices fell in Italy (-0.6%).

Compared with the previous quarter, the highest increases were recorded in Slovenia (+6.5%), Latvia (+4.3%) and Malta (+3.8%), while decreases were observed in Denmark (-1.7%), Belgium (-0.5%), United Kingdom (-0.4%), Sweden (-0.2%), Italy (-0.2%) and France (-0.2%).