EU: House prices up 4.3 pct in Q2

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - House prices in the European Union rose at an annual clip of 4.3 percent this April-June, the EU's statistical office said on Friday.

Eurostat said the House Price Index (HPI) value in the second quarter of this year was the same for both the euro area and the EU28.

The eurozone/euro area or EA19 represents member states that use the single currency -- the euro -- while the EU28 includes all member countries of the bloc.

Among all member countries, the highest annual increase in house prices was seen in Slovenia, up 13.4 percent, followed by Ireland, Portugal, and Hungary.

Eurostat noted that over the same period house prices fell in Sweden and Italy by 1.7 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

On a quarterly basis, house prices surged 1.4 percent in both the eurozone and the EU28 in the second quarter of 2018, the statistical office noted.

The HPI covers the price changes of all residential properties purchased by households -- newly built and existing flats, detached houses, terraced houses, etc.