person holds the keys to something next to a mock up paper house, indicating it might be a house key and creating the idea that the other person is signing a contract to a house.

In 2022, the number of housing transactions, when compared with 2021, decreased in the majority of the 16 EU countries for which data are available. This decrease comes after an increase in nearly all countries in 2021 compared with 2020. 

The largest decreases in the number of transactions in 2022 were recorded in Denmark (-31.6%), Finland (-16.6%), the Netherlands (-16.2%) and Luxembourg (-15.1%), while the highest increases were registered in Cyprus (+27.4%), Ireland (+7.7%) and Spain (+6.0%).

Since COVID-19 started, the housing market has been volatile. In 2020, there was a general drop in housing transactions due to lockdown measures, with only four (Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Austria) of the EU countries covered registering an increase in sales. This was followed by a period of growth in 2021, with sales going up in the 16 EU countries covered, except for the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The market was so hot in 2021 that 11 out of 16 countries with available data registered annual rates of change above 10%, with the highest increases recorded in Spain (+39.3%) and Bulgaria (+39.0%). 
 

Bar chart: annual number of housing transactions; annual average rate of change, blue colour for 2021 and pink for 2022 (%)

Source dataset: prc_hpi_hsna

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Methodological notes:

  • House sales statistics are provided by Member States on a voluntary basis. Data on the number of housing transactions are available for 16 EU countries.
  • The data covers the transactions of new and existing dwellings (apartments and houses) where the buyer is a household.

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