Sunday, 7 December 2025
Slovakia’s housing market recorded another strong quarter in Q3 2025, with prices rising rapidly and construction activity continuing at a measured pace. Official data show that homes across the country became noticeably more expensive, with increases seen in both new-build and older properties. Regional differences persisted, but all parts of Slovakia experienced some level of growth.
Prices for residential property climbed sharply in the three months to September. Compared with the same period last year, the cost of buying a home was more than 13% higher, marking the fastest annual rise in three years. The trend was visible in every region, although the scale varied: while some areas saw increases of around eight to ten percent, others—particularly in central and eastern Slovakia—registered rises above twenty percent. Older housing continued to drive much of the acceleration, though newly built apartments and houses also became more expensive.
Over a longer horizon, the market has shifted significantly. Official statistics show that average sale prices are now more than double those recorded in 2010, with older homes appreciating particularly strongly during that period. This long-term dynamic suggests that buyers have increasingly focused on established housing, while the cost of new development has risen more gradually.
Construction figures for the quarter reveal a market that is active but not expanding aggressively. Slightly over four thousand homes were completed between July and September, a number broadly in line with last year but still below the levels typically seen in earlier years. Developers also began works on just over four thousand units, a figure that appears large at first glance but is inflated by the unusually weak comparison period of 2024. Despite that rebound, the volume of newly launched projects remains well below the longer-term norm. By the end of September, more than seventy-seven thousand homes were still in various stages of construction—roughly the same volume recorded a year earlier.
Across the first nine months of 2025, the pace of completions and construction starts was weaker than in the previous year. Both categories fell into double-digit declines when measured against long-term averages, suggesting that the pipeline of future supply may remain tight.
The broader economic backdrop offered mixed signals. Wage growth continued to outpace inflation, which improved real household incomes modestly. At the same time, borrowing costs remained high compared with earlier periods. Mortgage rates did not rise as sharply as in 2023 and 2024, but they remained a barrier for many households, limiting the extent to which improved earnings could translate into greater purchasing capacity.
What remains unclear from publicly available data is the scale of actual sales activity. While the price statistics reveal what buyers are paying, they do not show how many transactions took place in the third quarter. Without comprehensive figures on sales volumes or mortgage lending tied specifically to property purchases, it is difficult to determine whether demand increased or whether rising prices reflect a constrained supply environment rather than a surge in buying.
Even so, the key indicators that are publicly available paint a picture of a market defined by rising values, limited new construction momentum, and steadily improving incomes. With supply not expanding at the same pace as prices, structural pressures appear to be playing a significant role in shaping conditions across the country. How these pressures evolve will depend largely on future building activity and the trajectory of borrowing costs, both of which remain critical to the balance of Slovakia’s housing market moving into 2026.
Source: Slovak Statistics, SUSR, Nbs and CIJ EUROPE Analysis Team
