Business news from Ukraine

Business news from Ukraine

Housing Prices in Czech Republic Rising at Their Fastest Pace Since 2021 – Homium

Residential real estate prices in the Czech Republic rose by 10.06% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026; adjusted for inflation, real growth stood at 8.33%, marking the highest rate since the 2021 housing boom, according to data from the Czech Statistical Office analyzed by Global Property Guide.

According to data from Ukraine’s largest international real estate agency, Homium, the nominal value of residential real estate in the Czech Republic has more than doubled over the past 11 years and is now 18% higher than the previous cyclical peak in the third quarter of 2022.

At the same time, the growth rates of the primary and secondary markets have virtually evened out. New housing prices rose by 10.01% over the year, while existing housing prices increased by 10.07%.

According to Homium, a company that deals in Czech real estate among other markets, price growth is being driven by a combination of limited supply of new housing and a recovery in mortgage demand. The company is also seeing particularly high interest in Prague and Brno, where the supply shortage is most pronounced.

“The Czech market is currently interesting because, following the 2022–2023 correction, it returned to growth fairly quickly. At the same time, buyers are becoming more price-sensitive, so demand is gradually shifting toward small apartments in Prague, outlying areas, and resale properties. For investment buyers, not only the potential appreciation of a property but also its liquidity in the rental market is becoming increasingly important,” Homium commented on the situation.

According to Homium, in May–June 2026, studio apartments and 1+kk apartments in central Prague were listed for approximately 248–414 thousand euros, in the capital’s outskirts for 186–269 thousand euros, and in Brno for 145–207 thousand euros. For 2+kk apartments, the price range was 331,000–580,000 euros, 248,000–373,000 euros, and 207,000–331,000 euros, respectively.

Prague remains the country’s most expensive market. According to data from the Global Property Guide, the average price of an apartment in the capital in 2025 was approximately 5,44 thousand euros per square meter, which was about 82% higher than the Czech average of approximately 3 thousand euros per square meter. In the Prague new-construction market, the average asking price reached about 7,310 euros per square meter, and in the most expensive district, Praha 1, it was about 10,850 euros per square meter.

Older residential properties remain more affordable. The average price of apartments in prefabricated buildings is estimated at approximately 2,94 thousand euros per square meter, while new housing from developers costs on average nearly twice as much—about 5,8 thousand euros per square meter.

Rapid price growth has already become a factor in the country’s monetary policy. On June 18, 2026, the Czech National Bank raised its key two-week repo rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75%. The regulator points to persistent inflationary pressures, including those stemming from housing and service costs.

In addition, in June, the CNB decided to increase the countercyclical capital buffer for banks from 1.25% to 1.5% starting in July 2027, citing active lending, rising household and corporate debt, and further increases in apartment prices as reasons for the decision.

The average gross yield on long-term residential leases in the Czech Republic in the second quarter of 2026 was 3.39% per annum. In the most expensive district, Prague 1, yields on individual apartments ranged from approximately 2.3% to 3.3%, while in more affordable areas of Prague, they could approach 4%.

Homium believes that, in the medium term, the main market drivers will remain limited construction rates, the cost of mortgage financing, and sustained demand for housing in major cities. At the same time, following the sharp growth of recent quarters, investors should evaluate the yield of a specific property more carefully, as purchase prices in Prague are rising faster than potential rental yields.

Homium has been operating in the international real estate market for over 10 years and offers properties in the Czech Republic, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, and several other countries. In the Czech Republic, the majority of the properties listed by the company are concentrated in Prague and Karlovy Vary.

The primary source of price statistics is the Czech Statistical Office; the market analysis was published by Global Property Guide and updated in August 2026.

Source:

Global Property Guide – https://www.globalpropertyguide.com/europe/czech-republic/price-history

Homium – https://homium.ua/czech-republic/

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Serbia Accounted for Nearly Quarter of Foreign Investment in Montenegro’s Real Estate Market

According to “Serbian Economist”, in the first half of 2026, Serbia became the largest source of foreign capital directed toward real estate purchases in Montenegro, according to data from the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG).

From January through June, foreign investors invested 237.77 million euros in Montenegrin real estate, which is 3.89% more than during the same period last year. Overall, gross foreign direct investment inflows into the country totaled 457.37 million euros, meaning real estate accounted for about 52% of all FDI inflows.

Serbia took the lead with 55.75 million euros, or 23.45% of all foreign investment in Montenegrin real estate.

Germany took second place with 22.9 million euros, and the United States came in third with 20.84 million euros. Switzerland contributed 18.5 million euros toward real estate purchases, and Turkey contributed 16.34 million euros.

Against this backdrop, the continuing decline in the role of Russian capital is particularly noticeable. In the first half of the year, only 5.37 million euros came from Russia for the purchase of Montenegrin real estate, placing it in tenth place. Poland and Belgium, among others, now rank higher than Russia in the list.

This trend began to take shape as early as last year. In the first quarter of 2025, Russia fell out of the top five largest markets for real estate buyers in Montenegro for the first time and ranked sixth. For 2025 as a whole, the volume of Russian investment across all sectors of Montenegro’s economy fell to 33.98 million euros, of which approximately 17.8 million euros went to real estate. By comparison, in the years 2020–2024, Russian capital was traditionally among the country’s largest sources of foreign investment.

However, it is not entirely accurate to refer directly to “Serbian citizens” or “Russians who purchased real estate” based on these figures. The CBCG methodology considers the country from which the payment originated, which may not correspond to the citizenship of the ultimate buyer or beneficiary. For example, a Russian citizen may pay for a property from an account in Serbia, the UAE, or another country. Therefore, the data primarily reflects a shift in the geography of financial flows in the real estate market.

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Investments in residential real estate in CEE-6 region nearly tripled over past year

According to Experts.news, residential real estate and institutional leasing became one of the fastest-growing segments of the Central and Eastern European investment market in the first half of 2026.

The residential/living segment accounted for 19% of investments in commercial real estate in the CEE-6, compared to just 7% a year earlier, according to Colliers data.

Thus, its share nearly tripled in less than a year and approached the levels of the traditionally largest real estate classes—offices and retail properties.

One of the most telling examples was Poland, where the largest transaction in the history of the local PRS (institutional rental housing) market took place in the first half of the year.

Vantage Development acquired 18 completed Resi4Rent projects for 575 million euros. The portfolio includes 5,322 apartments in Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Łódź, and Poznań.

This transaction reflects growing interest among large investors in residential properties intended not for the resale of individual apartments, but for long-term professional leasing of entire portfolios.

This model is widespread in Western Europe, but in Central and Eastern Europe, the institutional rental market is much younger and has more room for growth.

Interest in the segment is driven by urbanization, high housing purchase costs, labor mobility, and growing demand for professionally managed rental housing in the region’s largest cities.

According to Colliers, with total investment in the CEE-6 region amounting to 5.8 billion euros, the market is gradually becoming more diversified, and residential/living has already become one of the top four investment sectors.

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Romania attracted approximately 300 mln euros in real estate investments in first half of year

The Romanian commercial real estate market attracted approximately 300 million euros in investment in the first half of 2026, compared to about 400 million euros during the same period last year, according to the Colliers CEE Investment Scene H1 2026 report.

Romania accounted for 5.4% of total CEE-6 investment volume, despite the fact that the country accounts for about 18% of the aggregate GDP of the six economies under review. According to Colliers, this indicates significant potential for further growth in the Romanian investment market.

Offices accounted for about 60% of Romania’s investment volume in the first half of the year, marking the highest share for this segment since 2022.

However, the market structure may shift in the second half of the year due to large transactions in retail and other real estate sectors.

Romania continues to offer higher yields than many more mature markets in Central Europe. In Bucharest, the prime yield stands at about 7.5% for offices, 7.75% for industrial and logistics properties, and 7.25% for shopping centers.

By comparison, yields on high-quality properties in Warsaw, Prague, and other more liquid capitals in the region are at lower levels.

Colliers notes that the decline in transaction volume in the first half of the year does not necessarily indicate a deterioration in the market’s fundamentals. A number of large transactions were in the final stages of completion after the end of June.

In particular, the sale of the MAS retail real estate portfolio to AFI Europe was completed in the third quarter. If the deals currently in progress are finalized, Romania’s total investment volume for 2026 could approach 1 billion euros.

This would be only the second year since 2007 that the Romanian market has reached this level, notes Robert Miklo, Head of Capital Markets at Colliers Romania.

Colliers operates in more than 70 countries, employs approximately 28,000 professionals, and has roughly $110 billion in assets under management.

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Offices Have Once Again Become Largest Segment of Real Estate Investment in Central Europe

Office real estate regained the top spot among commercial real estate investment sectors in Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of 2026, according to data from Colliers.

Offices accounted for 29% of total investment in the CEE-6, up from 23% a year earlier. With a total market volume of EUR 5.8 billion, this corresponds to approximately EUR 1.7 billion in investments.

Retail real estate became the second-largest segment, with a 27% share, up from 21% in the first half of 2025.

Investor interest in residential and “living” properties grew even faster. Their combined share rose from 7% to 19%.

At the same time, industrial and logistics real estate—which was the largest market segment just a year ago—saw its share decline from 31% to 17%. This was due not only to changes in activity within the warehouse market itself but also to the rapid growth of transactions in other real estate classes.

Colliers notes that in the office segment, investors are primarily seeking modern buildings in prime locations with high energy efficiency and a stable stream of rental income.

The situation is becoming more challenging for outdated office buildings. They must either undergo modernization or be considered for repurposing.

Thus, the structure of the CEE market is gradually changing: after several years of logistics dominance, capital is once again flowing more actively into traditional offices and retail real estate, while institutional housing is emerging as a major investment segment in its own right.

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Czech investors have invested approximately 1.9 bln euros in real estate in Central and Eastern Europe

Czech capital was one of the most active sources of investment in the Central and Eastern European real estate market in the first half of 2026, according to a Colliers study.

The total volume of investments by Czech investors in the region is estimated at approximately 1.9 billion euros. The presence of Czech capital was particularly noticeable in Poland, the largest investment market in Central and Eastern Europe.
Investors from the Czech Republic accounted for 23.6% of all investments in Polish commercial real estate from January through June. Germany accounted for about 19%, Polish capital for 11.5%, U.S. capital for 10.6%, and Hungarian capital for 6.8%.

The Czech Republic itself, meanwhile, remained the second-largest market in the CEE-6. In the first half of the year, deals totaling over 1.4 billion euros were concluded there. This is less than the record 2.2 billion euros for the same period in 2025; however, according to Colliers’ assessment, the market remains one of the most stable in the region.

Yields on premium office properties in Prague are estimated at approximately 5.25%, on prime warehouse facilities at around 5%, and on shopping centers at around 6%. These are among the lowest capitalization rates among the largest markets in Central Europe, reflecting investors’ relatively high valuation of Czech assets.
The activity of Czech capital in neighboring countries is part of a broader trend. Colliers notes that in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets, the influence of not only global funds from the U.S. and Western Europe but also investors from Central Europe itself is growing.

This is gradually fostering the development of a distinct regional investment capital capable of sustaining transactions even during periods when major international funds adopt a more cautious approach toward the region.

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