Quarterly house price to rent ratio in Europe 2023, by country
In the second quarter of 2023, Turkey, Latvia, Portugal, and Czechia had the highest house price to rent ratio in Europe. The four countries ranked the highest, with house price to rent indices exceeding 160 percent. The house price to rent ratio is an indicator of the affordability of owning housing over renting across European countries and is calculated as the nominal house prices divided by a rent price index. The higher the ratio, the more the gap between house prices and rental rates has widened since 2015 when the index base was 100. In terms of house price to income ratio, the top three countries were Portugal, Luxembourg, and Hungary
Homeownership in Europe
Homeownership varies widely across European countries. In some, such as Austria, Germany and Switzerland, homeownership is relatively low with less than two thirds of people occupying a dwelling owned by a member of the household. In other countries (Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden) more than half of people were owner-occupiers with a mortgage. A third group of countries with a high homeownership rate without a housing loan includes many Eastern and South European countries among which were Serbia, Romania, North Macedonia, Italy, and Bulgaria.
Dwellings as a non-financial asset
Dwellings, along with structures, land, and intellectual property, are classed as non-financial assets and form an important part of household wealth. Through sale, refinancing or renting, they can serve as an additional source of income. In 2020, Germany, France, and Austria were the European countries with the highest value of dwellings per capita as a non-financial asset with values between 71,000 and 82,000 euros per capita.
