Prices of housing fell by 2.4% in the third quarter of the year on the quarter before with the prices of new flats slumping by 5.2% after three consecutive quarters of growth, official statistics show.Despite the fall, prices of new as well as existing apartments are still 5% above the average in the crisis year of 2009, a report by the Statistics Office shows.
Only 180 new flats were sold in the third quarter, which compares to an average of 320 per quarter in 2010, according to transactions reported by companies in a survey on the prices of new housing. The prices of new flats and family houses dropped by 4.2% in Q3 on the quarter before. The prices of new houses were only down 0.4% but also more than 11% below the average in 2009. Half of the new flats sold were reported in the statistical region of central Slovenia, nearly 72% of them in the municipality of Ljubljana. The prices of existing housing fell by 0.9%, which is on a par with the fall in the second quarter. Existing family houses came 1% cheaper than in the quarter before and exiting flats were 0.9% cheaper. The prices of existing flats outside Ljubljana fell by 0.7%, while those in the capital city were marked down by 1.2%. Meanwhile, transactions involving existing flats increased after six months in decline.
Source: The Slovenia Times
