The House Price Index (HPI) measures the price changes of all residential properties purchased by households (flats, detached houses, terraced houses, etc.), both newly built and existing, independently of their final use and independently of their previous owners.

House prices, as measured by the House Price Index, rose by 4.0% in both the euro zone and the EU in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same quarter of the previous year (These figures are issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union). Compared with the fourth quarter of 2018, house prices rose by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2019 in both the euro zone and the EU.

This increase mainly affects some Eastern and Central European countries: Hungary (+ 11.3%), the Czech Republic (+ 9.4%), Croatia (7.4%) and Bulgaria (7.3%).

Faced with a growing housing crisis – particularly in the field of social housing – the EU is strengthening its financial instruments for the next period 2021-2027, in particular the structural funds (ERDF, UIA) and InvestEU (successor to the current Juncker Plan).