In 2025, housing sales grew in 17 out of 20 European countries thanks to a decrease in interest rates, although prices in most countries continued to rise. France exceeded one million transactions, Slovenia showed the largest growth, writes Euronews.
Looking at percentages, Slovenia is the leader in growth. There was a record increase in sales (+29.9%), although in absolute terms, there were few transactions — only 11,000. In Lithuania, transactions increased by 22.8%, in Austria — by 21.4%, in Belgium — by 20.2%.
Double-digit growth rates were also observed in Luxembourg (18.6%), Hungary (17.3%), the Netherlands (13.9%), Denmark (12.7%), France (11.2%) and Portugal (10.5%).
In Latvia (9.2%), Finland (9%) and Norway (8.3%), the increase was close to 10%.
In only three countries did housing sales fall — Croatia (-4.1%), Bulgaria (-2.5%) and Poland (-1.1%). For comparison, in 2024, a decline was recorded in six countries.
Looking at the number of homes sold, France leads with over 1 million transactions per year. At the same time, prices barely increased (+0.1% per year)
In the Netherlands, 265,000 housing units changed owners.
Croatia is the only country where the decline in sales has continued for the fourth consecutive year, despite the general upturn in Europe. At the same time, housing prices there increased by 14.3%, and rents — by an impressive 39.1% (the highest indicator in the region). Analysts attribute this to internal market factors, rather than general European trends.
Expert Mick Kalmet from Global Property Guide explains the growth by the stabilization of Euribor rates and the realization of deferred demand that accumulated during the period of high rates. Restraining factors are expensive construction and weak construction activity, which limit the supply of housing.
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