Good evening. Here is the Tuesday, August 1 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Central bank: Real estate prices continue to fall
While flat prices continue to decline, house prices remain stagnant in Slovakia. (source: SME - Marko Erd)
Residential property prices fell by 2.3 percent month-on-month in the second quarter of 2023, the central bank announced on August 1. The average price decreased by €58 between quarters, to €2,498 per m2.
Annually, the prices reached a negative growth rate of - 6.5 percent.
Flats remain more expensive than houses. While flat prices continued to fall, the average price standing at €2,711 per m2, house prices increased by 0.7 percent on average, to €1,944 per m2, when the first two quarters of this year are compared. Like flats, house prices dropped annually as well, by -2.1 percent.
Buyers made good deals in eastern and central Slovakia, in particular. Flat and house prices increased only in the Nitra Region, while they stagnated in the Trnava Region.
From April to June 2023, 187 new flats were sold in Bratislava, while more than 3,000 more flats are on offer. The sale of flats in Bratislava fell by up to 70 percent compared to 2020 and 2021.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website
Environment: A fearless stork has tormented people in eastern Slovakia for weeks.
Real estate: An ancient Bratislava water mill heads to auction in mid-August.
Archaeology: A 13th century coin from western Slovakia remains 'problematic'.
Innovation: Slovakia has to rethink its strategy to become a 'tiger' again.
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FEATURE STORY FOR TUESDAY
Slovak Matters: 'Urobil si to eňoňuňo.'
Slovak baby-talk and its soothing diminutive forms often spring up in the adult vernacular. (source: saeed karimi on Unsplash)
and its soothing diminutive forms often spring up in the adult vernacular - sometimes to give a sense of familiarity, sometimes because the bare adult forms are considered rather cold and abrupt, sometimes to be silly, and sometimes because words like papkať (eat) are simply more fun to say than the formal jesť.
EVENT FOR FRIDAY
Birds at Devín Castle
The Morava River. (source: Jana Liptáková)
Devín Castle is not only a place of historical value. With an ornithologist, you can get to know bird species that nest directly in the castle area, including the walls and rock formations.
You should bring your own binoculars. Admission: €5 (at the castle or online).
The event starts at 16:00 on Friday, August 4.
In other news
Železničná Spoločnosť Slovensko, a state-owned company responsible for railroads, has begun to renovate platforms at the Bratislava-Vinohrady station. Some passenger trains on the Trnava-Bratislava Main Station line are therefore diverted to the Bratislava-Nové Mesto station. Other trains leaving from or arriving at the main railway station will be delayed by 5-15 minutes. Renovation work will last until October 4.
At the end of July 2023, the state budget reached a deficit of €3.1 billion. The management of finances thus worsened year-on-year by €1.8 billion or 142 percent, the Finance Ministry said.
The Finance Ministry is preparing an amendment to the Act on Excise Duty on Tobacco Products. It is unclear how much the price of cigarettes could increase.
The National Security Office warns of the increased risk of cyber security incidents and other malicious activities in cyberspace in connection with the September parliamentary elections.
According to the latest AKO poll, published by TV JOJ on July 31, eight parties would have made it to parliament if the elections had taken place in July. Igor Matovič's OĽaNO would have won no seats, Robert Fico's Smer would have come first.
The state joint-stock company Konštrukta - Defense handed over two more pieces of Zuzana 2 self-propelled cannon howitzers to Ukraine on August 1, 2023. These are the first howitzers from a package of 16 pieces, the production of which is financed jointly by Denmark, Norway and Germany. (source: TASR - Lukáš Grinaj)
WEATHER FOR WEDNESDAY: Little cloud cover. Rain, showers, and storms will be rare during the day. The highest daytime temperature will rise to 28°C.
Yellow rain warnings are in place until 1:00 on August 2 in a number of districts. (SHMÚ)
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