Prices of used flats were up 3%, standing 10% above the 2015 low but still 14% below the 2008 peak levels.

Around 17,200 real estate deals worth EUR 1.07bn were wrapped up in the first six months. 5,885 were deals with apartments, a 10.5% increase compared to the second half of 2016 and 8.7% more than in the first half of last year.

While the flats figure also beats the record from the second half of 2007 by 4%, the volumes for the market as a whole were slightly below the EUR 1.13bn from the second half of 2016. This was however still only the second time since 2007 that the totals six-month figure exceeded EUR 1bn.

GURS says demand continues to be fuelled by favourable economic trends and above all by low interest rates.

The trend of rising prices, which has been persistent since the stagnation in the second half of 2015, is continuing. The average price of a used flat was EUR 1,580 per square metre in the first half of the year.

House prices reached their low slightly earlier than apartment prices, in the second half of 2014, but have also been rising constantly with the exception of a short dip in the second half of 2016.

Strong growth in house deals has been recorded this year. The average price of a house in the first six months was EUR 119,000, a 6% increase compared to the second half of 2016, and 14% more than during the 2014 low.

Used flat prices in Ljubljana increased by 4.5% compared to the second half of last year to EUR 2,310 per square metre. This is 15% above the low and 14% below the peak levels.

In Koper, the biggest coastal town, used flats got 9% costlier, at EUR 2,070 per square metre, in Ljubljana's surroundings they were 3.4% dearer, at EUR 1,820, in Kranj 5.6% (EUR 1,700), Celje 0.9% (EUR 1,150) and Maribor 1.8% (EUR 1,120).

Meanwhile, the number of deals with new flats reached a record low in the first half, as there are practically no more units available at housing developments that had come to a standstill during the financial crisis - this includes the Celovški dvori development in Ljubljana and Nokturno in Koper.

There has been an acceleration in the execution or launch of new projects in the capital. These include the Belle vie Tivoli, Zelene Jarše and Tribuna developments.