Saturday, 15 March 2025
Residential property prices in smaller Czech towns and cities with up to 50,000 inhabitants could decline or at least slow in growth over the next decade due to demographic changes. A significant portion of housing stock in these areas is owned by people over 70 years old, and as they pass away, a wave of inheritance sales could lead to an oversupply, outpacing demand. This trend was highlighted in a new analysis presented by real estate data platforms Flat Zone and Dataligence.
The most significant price drops are expected in towns with populations between 5,000 and 10,000, where the time to sell properties may also increase. Between 1945 and 1955, approximately 1.9 million children were born in what was then Czechoslovakia. Today, members of this baby boomer generation, who are now at least 70 years old, collectively own more than 367,000 apartments (19.3% of the total housing stock) and nearly 500,000 family houses (25% of all houses in the country).
According to the data, 42% of seniors own two-room apartments (2+kk), while 44% own three- and four-room apartments (3+kk and 4+kk). Additionally, 67% of elderly homeowners reside in prefabricated housing. Milan Ročko, founder of Dataligence, stated that the effects of aging on the housing market will become apparent within the next three to five years. However, Prague, Brno, and other large regional cities are unlikely to experience price declines, as urban migration is offsetting population loss due to aging.
“The demographic shift among baby boomers will fundamentally alter long-standing trends in the Czech real estate market,” Ročko said.
According to the data, the Czech Republic has approximately 1.9 million apartments and two million family houses, mostly located outside large cities, particularly in the Central Bohemian Region. Around 600,000 flats in brick houses, many built in the 1960s, are spread across various towns, while more than one million prefabricated flats, mostly dating from 1960 to 1990, are concentrated in larger cities. The country has around 70,000 prefabricated buildings in total. Meanwhile, newer apartments built since 1995 account for 300,000 units, with 80% of them located in Prague and regional hubs.
At the start of this year, Flat Zone and Dataligence merged into a single entity under the Flat Zone brand. Previously, Flat Zone specialized in residential development data, while Dataligence provided real estate insights for banks and insurance companies. Their combined expertise aims to enhance real estate market analysis in the Czech Republic.
Source CTK
