According to a recent survey carried out by the renowned Ipsos agency in cooperation with the platform Evropa v datech, almost 40% of Czechs aged 18 to 29 currently do not believe, that in their lifetime they will ever reach ideal housing.
Prague remains expensive
The harshest critics of the property market situation are, in the long run, Praguers, across all age groups. Compared with the end of 2015, that is roughly ten years ago, the price of flats in the capital has climbed to more than double, specifically by 112%. In Brno this growth reached as much as 140%. The average gross monthly wage in the Czech Republic in 2015 was 26 591 Kč, while the latest estimate for the end of 2025 puts it at 46 557 Kč gross. This means that over the past decade wages have failed to keep pace with property prices.
Some experts attribute the falling birth rate to the unaffordability of housing, others counter that the ongoing shift in society has far deeper roots
All the age groups surveyed agree that the current situation on the property market hits young people hardest. They often have to spend a larger part of their lives living in rented housing and waiting to see whether they will be “rescued” by something like intergenerational transfers of property. Fewer than one in ten people under 30 own their home.
Timber could make construction cheaper and faster
Legislative changes that could gradually improve housing affordability are coming very slowly. The principle of one office – one stamp – one year is set to take effect in 2027. One partial change is, for example, the approval of multi-storey timber buildings. So it may well be that we will soon see the first projects of this kind in the Czech Republic.
Permitting timber buildings should be at least somewhat simpler on paper; for reality we will have to wait a while longer
The rental housing market will also undoubtedly be shaken up by the recent postponement of the so-called super-benefit, which replaces several different forms of support – among them the housing allowance, often criticised for having contributed in a number of locations to a rocketing rise in nominal prices.
An unusually candid American president
The housing crisis, of course, is not confined to the Czech Republic. The current President of the United States Donald Trump has a wide range of personality traits, but one thing that cannot be denied him is his almost disarming bluntness. At one of his recent meetings with the press in the Oval Office of the White House he was asked by a reporter how he plans to address the problem of rising property prices, which in many American regions are even less affordable than in the Czech Republic.
While newspaper headlines are filled with cries about Greenland, many American families are troubled by their financial situation and the widening gap between rich and poor
Donald Trump, who ahead of the elections the autumn before last campaigned on a programme that included lowering prices across sectors, openly admitted that he is not planning any structural changes that could make property cheaper. He says it is his commitment to ensure that the value of property for existing owners – mainly older voters, who are among the main supporters of the Republican party – keeps rising so that thanks to him they grow wealthier. A certain reflection of the current sentiment among young American families may come this autumn in the so-called midterms, that is, the elections held halfway through the president’s term. The median age of first-time property buyers in the USA climbed last year to a record 40 years – back in 1985, four decades ago, it was just 25. Looking for a long-term partner in property investment with a perfect grasp of the market? Then don’t hesitate to contact FLAT SERVICE, a company that has been working in professional property management for more than ten years. Write to sales@flatservice.cz or call +420 277 000 330 to find out more about our services.
