Real estate prices and rents are rising across Europe, but Croatia is breaking all records!

Across Europe, property prices and rental costs have been on the rise since the beginning of 2026, but Croatia has set new records in both areas, surpassing all other countries in terms of growth rates. According to data from Eurostat, house and apartment prices as well as rent increased in nearly all European Union member states during this period. In some countries, the increase in real estate prices exceeded overall inflation by about ten percentage points. This trend comes at a time when households spent almost one-fifth (18.9 percent) of their disposable income on housing in 2025, with some countries exceeding 30 percent, according to Euronews. In the first quarter of 2026, real estate prices across the EU rose by 5.1 percent compared to the same period in the previous year, while rents increased by 3 percent. Both increases were higher than the EU's overall inflation rate of 2.3 percent, although the pace of growth varied significantly among European countries. The data shows that real estate prices rose in all 28 monitored countries except Finland, where they fell by 2 percent between the first quarters of 2025 and 2026. Among the 28 European countries analyzed, Portugal recorded the highest annual increase in real estate prices at 17.8 percent, followed by Bulgaria (14.8 percent), Slovakia (14.4 percent), and Croatia (14.3 percent). Spain led among the larger economies in the EU with a 12.8 percent increase, placing it fifth overall. France saw only a minimal rise of 0.1 percent, the lowest among all monitored countries except Finland, where prices declined. Italy experienced a 5.2 percent increase in real estate prices, slightly above the EU average, while Germany recorded a modest 1.4 percent rise, just marginally higher than France’s. Double-digit growth was also observed in Lithuania (11.9 percent), Hungary (11.2 percent), Latvia (10.9 percent), and the Czech Republic (10.1 percent). Strong growth was also noted in Slovenia (9.3 percent), Denmark (8.3 percent), and Romania (7.8 percent). Real estate prices rose above the EU average in Ireland (6.8 percent), Poland (6 percent), and the Netherlands (5.2 percent). Among Nordic countries, only Denmark exceeded the EU average by more than three percentage points. Norway saw a 4.6 percent increase, Iceland 2.8 percent, and Sweden 2.6 percent. In some countries, real estate price growth outpaced inflation. Romania recorded the highest inflation rate at 8.6 percent, followed by Iceland (4.7 percent) and Croatia (4.1 percent). In Romania and Iceland, real estate price increases were lower than inflation, making them exceptions. Conversely, in five countries with the highest real estate price growth—Portugal, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Croatia, and Spain—the prices rose approximately ten percentage points faster than inflation. Croatia stands out in the EU for having the highest rent increases, with rents rising by 39.1 percent between the first quarters of 2025 and 2026. Mikkel Kalmet, a real estate expert from Global Property, highlights that rent increases in Croatia are particularly strong due to the country being an attractive destination for both short-term and long-term rentals, especially when compared to more developed markets such as Spain and southern France. Bulgaria was the only other country with double-digit rent growth at 10.5 percent, followed by Iceland (8.4 percent), Romania (8.4 percent), and Greece (8.1 percent). Among the four largest economies in the EU, Italy saw a 3.8 percent increase in rents, which was above the EU average, while Spain recorded a 2.5 percent increase.