STA, 21 December 2018 - Prices of residential properties in Slovenia kept rising in the third quarter of the year but transactions were few and prices of newly built homes fell, data from the Statistics Office show.
Prices of all residential properties in the third quarter increased by 1.9% on the quarter before and by 15.1% year-on-year.
Prices of newly built homes fell by 15.8% over the previous quarter and only 63 newly built residential properties were sold in the third quarter.
Prices of new flats dropped by as much as 19% quarter-on-quarter and prices of new family houses decreased by 1.5%.
However, year-on-year, prices of newly built flats were up 10.1% and prices of newly built family houses were 9.4% higher.
With 1,951 existing residential properties sold in the third quarter, prices of existing homes increased by 4.1% over the previous quarter.
Prices of existing flats in Ljubljana decreased by 1.8% in the third quarter, but were still 8.9% higher year-on-year.
Prices of existing flats in the rest of the country went up by 1.9% quarter-on-quarter, rising by 10.6% year-on-year.
Prices of existing family houses rose by 11.4% from the quarter before and by as much as 26.3% year-on-year.
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A report by the Surveying and Mapping Authority, also issued today, showed that the number and value of real estate transactions in the first half of the year fell from record figures in 2017 but were still high.
The prices were still below the record levels of 2008, but inched very close after strong growth in the past year.
Around 17,500 real estate transactions were recorded between January and June, up from 17,400 in the second half of 2017 but down from 19,300 in the first half of 2017.
The combined value of real estate transactions in the first half of the year was EUR 1.16bn, up from EUR 1.19bn in the second half of 2017 but down from the record EUR 1.21bn in H1 2017.
Two-thirds of the transactions involved residential properties, flats (38%) and houses (26.5%). Commercial and industrial real estate represented 15% and building plots 10%.
Transactions in farmland and forests accounted for 3% of all transactions, while other types of real estate represented 7%.
Average price of a second-hand flats in the first half of this year was 6% up from the previous six months and 11% higher from the first half of 2017.
Compared to 2015 when prices bottomed out, apartment prices were up by 22%, while average prices were still 4% bellow all time highs of 2008. Prices of houses were 10% below the peak.
High demand has been driving up prices of residential properties in Ljubljana and on the coast with the average price of existing flats in Ljubljana rising above 2008 levels to EUR 2,770 per square metre.
High prices in the capital city, which accounts for one out of four apartments sold in the country, also drove up average prices of second-hand apartments in Slovenia, which rose to EUR 1,750 per square metre.
Trading in commercial properties has begun to stagnate and prices have been stagnating for the past three years.
Most transactions involved office space, with existing office space transactions accounting for two-thirds of all transactions in commercial properties.
Trading in building land has stabilised but prices are up. Most of the plots were bought for family houses. More than 20% of the plots were sold in Ljubljana and its surroundings.
More data on this topic can be seen at SURS
