TL;DR
- Developers' average sale price for a new flat in Prague reached 182,845 CZK per sqm in the second quarter of 2026, almost 11% higher than a year earlier, while the number of flats on offer hit a ten year high of about 6,450 (Central Group, Trigema and Skanska Residential).
- Building permits and notices in Prague fell 20.1% year on year to 497 in the second quarter, the largest drop of any Czech region, while housing starts rose 59.2% to 2,788 dwellings (ČSÚ).
- Funding is getting dearer: the average rate on new mortgages was 5.0% in August, up from 4.9% in July (ČT24, citing ČBA), and the central bank rate stands at 3.75% (ČNB).
How fast are Prague prices rising?
Developers' figures give the sharpest picture. The average asking price of a new flat in Prague was 187,781 CZK per sqm in the second quarter, up 3% on the quarter and more than 10% on the year (Skanska analysis). Prices actually achieved in sales averaged 182,845 CZK per sqm, a new historic high in that series (same analysis).
Dušan Kunovský, chairman of Central Group, one of the developers behind the analysis, says new-flat prices have risen 170% in a decade because supply is small (same analysis). Treat that as a seller's view.
Other series point the same way, more slowly. The Czech Statistical Office index for all home purchases (flats and houses) stood at 277.1 points in the second quarter, against 255.2 a year earlier, or 8.6% higher (ČSÚ). Deloitte's Real Index, which tracks realised prices from land registry contracts for Prague flats, stood at 153,100 CZK per sqm in the first half of 2026, up 2.4% on the second half of 2025 (Deloitte). That is a half-year comparison, not a yearly one.
These measures cover different baskets, so they should not be read as one line.
Why is supply not following?
The number of flats on offer is the highest in more than ten years, at about 6,450 at the end of June, up about 12% on the year (Skanska analysis). The developers attribute this to better market conditions and the launch of several large projects and phases, not to faster permitting (same analysis). They still describe the offer as below the city's needs.
The permit data explains why the relief may be short:
- Prague building permits and notices fell to 497 in the second quarter, down 20.1% on the year, while national permits rose 9.2% (ČSÚ).
- Flats permitted in apartment buildings in Prague totalled 2,878 from January to May, more than 15% fewer than a year earlier (Skanska analysis, citing ČSÚ).
- Housing starts reached 2,788 dwellings in the second quarter and completions 1,240 dwellings (ČSÚ).
Permits are counted as permits and notices and starts as dwellings, so the two series are not directly comparable. Quarterly construction numbers swing widely and the ČSÚ data are preliminary.
The Chamber of Deputies approved an amendment to the Building Act in July. The Senate rejected it on 20 August, the Chamber overrode the Senate on 9 September, and the president signed it on 17 September (Chamber of Deputies). The general effective date is 1 January 2027, selected provisions take effect on the first day of the month after publication in the Collection of Laws, and a few on 1 January 2028 (Chamber of Deputies, passed text). A new Prague zoning plan was also approved (Skanska analysis).
What does a 5% mortgage change?
The average rate on new mortgages was 5.0% in August, against 4.9% in July (ČT24, citing ČBA). The 2025 average was 4.58% and the June 2026 figure was 4.79% (kurzy.cz, citing ČBA). The ČBA estimates that the average monthly repayment in May was about 3,600 CZK higher than the 2025 average (same source).
The Czech National Bank raised its repo rate by 0.25 points to 3.75% on 18 June (ČNB), held it on 6 August (kurzy.cz) and again on 17 September (ČNB).
Demand has not yet broken. Developers sold about 1,950 new flats in the second quarter, up 11% on the year (Skanska analysis). Small units, one and two rooms, made up about three quarters of those sales (same analysis). Developers name rising incomes and fear of further price rises as drivers. Mortgage volumes in August were down 15% on July (ČT24, citing ČBA).
Who is buying: owners or investors?
We cannot say. We found no 2026 data on the investor share of Prague purchases, and the developers' analysis does not split sales by buyer type.
What exists is the rule. Since 1 April 2026 the central bank's recommendation caps loans for a third or further home, or a rental purchase, at 70% loan to value and a debt to income ratio of 7; owner occupiers are unchanged (České noviny). Board member Jakub Seidler said the tightening affects a relatively small part of the mortgage market, and analysts quoted by the agency do not expect large effects (same source).
What to watch
- Permits
Whether the second quarter fall in Prague repeats in the third quarter data.
- Rates
Whether the mortgage average moves past 5.0% and how buyers respond.
- Small units
Whether the share of one and two room flats in sales holds.
- Legislation
Whether the Constitutional Court challenge that ODS and TOP 09 senators said on 20 August they would likely bring (České noviny) alters the timetable of the signed Building Act amendment, and from which year completions could respond.
Do you buy, build or lend against Prague housing? Tell us what you are seeing.
