Spain, the fourth EU state where housing prices increased the most: more than double the average

BrusselsThe housing crisis affects the entire European Union, but especially member states like Spain. Spain is the fourth EU country where the prices of flats and houses increased the most during the fourth quarter of last year compared to the same period in 2024: by 12.9%. The rate is more than double that recorded by the 27 member states of the European bloc, which stood at 5.5%, according to the report published this Tuesday by Eurostat, the EU's statistical office.

The growth rate of the housing purchase price in Spain was particularly high throughout 2025. In fact, Eurostat indicates that in all four quarters, the percentage increase in the price of flats and houses in Spain was in double digits. The first three months of the previous year it was 12.3%, while in the second and third quarters the rate increased to 12.8%.

The rates collected by Eurostat indicate that the increase in housing prices in Spain was considerably higher than in the eurozone and the European Union as a whole, which stood above 5%. In the first quarter, across the EU, the growth rate was 5.8%, and in the second and third quarters it stood at 5.4%. In the last four months of 2025 it rose slightly, to 5.5%. In the euro area, the percentages were lower: in the first three months, 5.4%; in the second quarter, 5.3%; and in the third and fourth quarters, 5.2%.

The only European Union member states where the purchase price of real estate increased more than in Spain were Hungary, Portugal, and Croatia. According to data published by Eurostat, they registered 21.2%, 18.9%, and 16.1% respectively. The other countries that registered double-digit rates were the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Lithuania.

On the contrary, only in one member state of the European Union did the purchase price of housing fall last year. In Finland, in the last quarter of 2025 it registered a negative percentage of 3.1%, and in the previous three quarters 3.4%, 1.3% and 1.9%. Although prices did grow, they also increased moderately in countries such as Luxembourg, which stood at 0.1% in the last quarter of 2025, or Sweden, which registered 1.2%.

France, the large economy where the price of real estate increases the least

While Spain is the large economy in the European Union where the price of real estate is growing the most, France is the one that registers the lowest percentage. The statistical institute of the European bloc points out that in the Gallic state the prices of apartments and houses only grew by 1% in the last quarter of last year. And, in previous periods, it grew even less: half a point during the first quarter, and 0.7% in the second and third.

In the largest economy of the community club, the German one, the increases were higher than in France, but below the average of the countries of the single currency and the European Union. In the four quarters of 2025 it remained above 3%: the first, at 3.5, and then it went down to 3%.

Regarding Italy, which is the third largest economy in the European Union, real estate prices did increase compared to last year more substantially than in Germany, but also below the eurozone and community average. The Eurostat report indicates that in the transalpine state, the increases in housing purchase prices were around 4%: in the first quarter, at 4.4%; in the second it fell to 3.9%; in the third, to 3.7%, and in the last it rose to 4.1%.

However, if the housing price is adjusted for inflation, Eurostat calculates that real estate became 9.7% more expensive in all of 2025, also behind Portugal, Hungary, and Croatia, which registered 14.7%, 11.7%, and 10%, respectively. With this calculation, the price of housing purchase not only fell in Finland, where it decreased by up to 3.6%, but also in Romania (-1.7%), Sweden (1.6%), Luxembourg (0.5%), and Austria (0.1%).