Methodology
The metadata on house price and sales index (HPI) and owner-occupied housing price index (OOHPI) gathers sources and summary information about data quality and the production process in general, under a standard structure.
The national statistical institutes (NSIs) producing housing price statistics data are also documenting their national practices in order to make European statistics more accessible and clearer. These metadata are available via the HPI and OOHPI files referred above.
House price data might be revised due to methodological changes in the data collected by the EU countries. In the table below, countries are listed by revision dates.
| Country | Revision date | Quarters revised until | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 04/03/2024 | Q3 2023 |
The HPI and OOHPI have been revised for the period Q1 2005 to Q3 2023 due to changes in the item weights, aggregation procedure and hedonic method (see also country methodological note). |
| Netherlands | 04/03/2024 | Q3 2023 |
HPI and OOHPI series and weights revised from Q1 2015 to Q3 2023. Revision prompted by the implementation of several changes aimed at aligning weight calculation with implementing regulation 2023/1470 and improving index compilation methodology (see also country methodological note for HPI and OOHPI). |
| Austria | 04/03/2024 | Q3 2023 |
HPI series and weights revised from Q1 2010 to Q3 2023. |
| Finland | 07/10/2022 | Q1 2022 |
Revised between Q1 2015 and Q1 2022. |
| Portugal | 08/04/2022 | Q3 2021 |
Revised for the period Q2 2019 to Q3 2021. |
| France | 08/07/2021 | Q4 2020 |
Change of the weights for new and existing dwellings due to an adjustment of the estimation method for the value of housing transactions. |
| Hungary | 07/10/2019 | Q1 2019 |
Change in the housing quality composition index (see methodological notes). |
| Germany | 10/07/2019 | Q4 2018 |
Mostly to reflect improvements in capturing the locations of property transactions. |
| Slovenia | 10/07/2019 | Q4 2018 |
Corrections in the calculation process. |
| Netherlands | 10/07/2018 | Q4 2017 |
Methodological improvements in the price index for newly built dwellings. |
| Italy | 10/07/2018 | Q4 2017 |
Reflect the change towards a more complete administrative data source. |
| Cyprus | 19/01/2017 | Q2 2016 |
The break in the HPI series for Q1 2015 observable in the database is due to model refinement and the exploitation of more available data (for details, see section 16.2 of the metadata document) |
| Ireland | 12/10/2016 | Q1 2016 |
Change towards more complete administrative data sources. Full details can be found on the Irish CSO website. |
Housing markets across Europe have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, though to varying degrees in different countries.
For further details, please consult our guidance note for national statistical institutes (NSIs) on compilation of the house price index (HPI) and the owner-occupied housing price index (OOHPI) during the COVID-19 crisis (released on 17 July 2020).
The house price index (HPI) and the owner-occupied housing price index (OOHPI) series are published with reference year 2015 = 100.
EU regulation 2016/792 on harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP) and the house price index (HPI) provides the legal basis for the common reference year 2015 = 100 for HPI and OOHPI and its future updates.
Please consult also our methodological publications.