Last year marked the second consecutive year of growth in prices after these had been falling from 2011 through 2014, said the Office in a press release.

Prices of existing apartments increased by 6% in Ljubljana and by 2.6% in the rest of the country. Existing one-family homes were dearer by 3% in Slovenia.

The average prices of newly-built apartments were up by 1.3% year-on-year, while the prices of new family houses were down by 4.9%.

Compared to 2010, average prices of newly built apartments decreased by 7.8% last year and those of newly built houses by almost a third. Prices of existing apartment units in Ljubljana dropped by 11.7% and those of existing houses in Slovenia by 15.5%.

The number of transactions in residential units totalled 10,652, up more than 600 from the record year 2007. However, the total value of transactions was lower by EUR 0.4bn to one billion euros in 2016 compared to 2007. A vast majority of deals was made with existing residential units - 9.656.

The final quarter, when 293 newly built units and 2593 existing units were sold, was the busiest. Compared to the quarter before, prices of housing units were higher by 6.4% in September-December.

Prices of new apartments grew by 7.4% and 6.6% of sales stemmed form receiverships, which held down the prices. The average age of newly built apartments in the fourth quarter was 3.7 years, added the Statistics Office.

"Higher prices of newly built flats are the result of the sale of a number of smaller and medium-sized residential buildings at nice locations such as the seaside, Ljubljana outskirts and Ljubljana city centre, and the sale of luxury flats," statisticians assessed.

Prices of newly built family houses increased by 1.7% at the quarterly level, with the number of new houses sold reaching as little as 45.

Prices of existing residential units were up 0.9% in the final quarter. Apartments were dearer by 1% and houses by 0.8%. The number of transactions with existing residential units was the highest to date.