Most Slovaks, up to a third, go to work in Germany, mainly in construction, industry and agriculture, with services in fourth place. (source: TASR)
Residential property prices in Bratislava have soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest data on real estate in the capital.
Although the coronavirus crisis has affected the wider economy with lockdowns leaving shops, restaurants, and many other businesses shuttered for months, the prices of flats and family houses in Bratislava have been driven up by a mix of high demand, long-term low supply of residential real estate for reasonable prices, and cheap mortgages, experts say.
The construction of new housing units has not caught up with the growing number of new residents in Bratislava.
“Mortgage interest rates are still at record lows, and so demand is significantly higher than what is, at the moment, the lowest level historically of flat supply [in Bratislava],” Daniela Danihel Rážová, director of the real estate agency Bond Reality and head of Slovakia’s Association of Real Estate Brokers, told The Slovak Spectator. “The only way to change this is to start building a lot of flats.”
Lack of residential real estate
Bratislava, as is the case across Slovakia generally, has suffered from a significant shortage of new housing units for several years.
Demand for new real estate has not lessened during the Covid-19 pandemic with good credit conditions fuelling interest in residential property not just as personal dwellings, but also as investments. With demand strongly outstripping supply, prices of new residential properties in the capital rose 11 percent year-on-year in 2020, according to data from real estate agency Herrys.
“The price per square metre of a new flat rose more than €300 excluding VAT,” said Filip Žoldák of Herrys, adding that prices are expected to continue to grow this year.
