Average house prices in Croatia rose by 9.1 percent in Q1 2020 compared with Q1 2019, more than the average price increase across the European Union, data released by Eurostat on Thursday showed.

Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, house prices rose by 5.5 percent in the EU and by 5.0 percent in the euro zone in Q1 2020. In Q4 2019, they rose by 4.9 percent in the EU and by 4.5 percent in the euro zone year-on-year.

The highest year-on-year increases in Q1 2020 were recorded in Luxembourg (+14.0 percent), Slovakia (+13.1 percent), Estonia (+11.5 percent), Poland (+11.3 percent) and Portugal (+10.3 percent). The only EU country which recorded a drop in prices in the same period was Hungary (-1.2 percent).

Compared with the previous Q4 2019, the highest quarter-on-quarter increases were recorded in Portugal (+4.9 percent), Estonia (+4.8 percent) and Slovakia (+4.0 percent). Falling prices were reported in Malta (-4.3 percent), Hungary (-1.1 percent), Ireland (-0.8 percent) and Belgium (-0.1 percent).

In Croatia, house prices in the Q1 2020 rose 2.7 percent from Q4 2019.