House prices outpaced household incomes across the European Union over the decade to 2025, pushing the price-to-income ratio 6.8% above its 2015 level. The ratio rose in 17 member states and fell in 10, with Portugal recording the largest increase, at 60.8%.
By Adam Ujazdowski. English adaptation of the Polish article, originally published on 9 November 2026.
Portugal leads, followed by the Netherlands and Hungary
After Portugal, the biggest increases in the house-price-to-income ratio were in the Netherlands (34.3%), Hungary (26.5%), Czechia (25.8%) and Spain (24.5%), according to figures released by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, on 9 November. The steepest declines were in Romania (42.8%), Finland (25.2%) and Bulgaria (16.2%).
Eurostat compares changes in residential property prices with changes in household disposable income per person. The figures show where house prices have risen most relative to incomes over the decade. Separate data are needed to establish how many years of income it would take to buy a home in a particular country.
EU ratio returns close to its long-term average
In 2022, the EU’s house-price-to-income ratio stood 7.4% above its long-term average, calculated from 2000 onwards. It declined over the following two years and was just 0.03% above that average in 2025. In 2007, before the global financial crisis, it had been 7.9% above the average.
Polish residential prices rise 6.3% year on year
Figures from Statistics Poland (GUS), Poland’s national statistical office, show that residential property prices rose 6.3% year on year and 1.5% quarter on quarter in the second quarter of 2026. Prices of new homes increased 6.5% over the year, while those of existing homes rose 6.1%.
