House prices, as measured by the House Price Index, were 1.6 pct higher in the euro area and 1.5 pct up in the EU in Q3 2018 compared to the second quarter of the year; Italy and Romania recorded EU's most significant drop in house prices, according to data released on Friday by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat).
Compared with the previous quarter, the highest increases in house prices in the third quarter of 2018 were recorded in the Netherlands
(+3.3 pct), Malta +3.1 pct) and Croatia (+2.8 pct), while decreases were recorded in Italy (-0.8 pct), Romania (-0.7 pct), Finland (-0.4 pct), Slovakia (-0.3 pct) and Hungary (-0.2 pct).
The annual increase in house prices was 4.3 pct both in the euro area and the EU in the third quarter of 2018.
The countries to see the highest annual price increases were Slovenia (15.1 pct), the Netherlands (10.2 pct) and Ireland (9.1 pct), while prices dropped in Sweden (- 2.1 pct) and Italy (- 0.8 pct).
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In Romania, house prices recorded an annual increase of 5.7 pct in Q3 2018, after a growth of 4.7 pct in the previous three months.
AGERPRES .