Prices of residential properties in Slovenia kept rising last year but the number of transactions fell, in particular in Ljubljana. Overall, prices rose by 11.3%, fresh statistics show.

The increase in home prices recorded in 2022 was the second most substantial in recent years and follows a 15.8% spike the year before.

Prices of previously owned homes rose the most last year, by 12%, data released by the Statistics Office on 24 March shows.

Prices of newly built flats went up by 5.7% and those of new family houses by 2.4%.

Sales of all types of homes totalled €1.6 billion, which is on a par with 2021, although the number of transactions fell by about 10% to 12,509.

Slowdown in final quarter

Data for the final quarter of the year suggests a cooling of the market with prices going up by a mere 1% on the quarter before.

Prices of previously owned homes in Ljubljana were flat for the first time after two years of consistent quarter-on-quarter growth.

Meanwhile, Maribor saw a 2.7% increase for existing units, and the rest of the country recorded a 2.5% increase to continue an uninterrupted three-year climb.

Newly built units became 2.6% cheaper on average in the country in the final quarter compared to the quarter before, but only due to a 16% drop for houses as prices of new flats were 1.1% higher.

Sales of all types of homes in the fourth quarter of 2022 totalled €361 million, down 6% on the quarter before and a fifth less than in the final quarter of 2021.

The total number of transactions of existing units (about 2,656) was lower for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Year-on-year, prices of existing flats in the final quarter of 2022 were up 8.7% in the capital, against a 15.4% rise recorded in Maribor and a 14.3% increase on average in the rest of the country.

Prices nearly double since 2015

Since 2015, home prices surged by 78%, where prices of previously owned flats rose by 82%.

In Ljubljana existing flats became 85% dearer in this period while prices of previously owned apartments in the rest of country doubled.

Commercial property prices up

The most recent report released by the Surveying and Mapping Authority's (GURS) shows prices of commercial properties also going up between 2020 and 2022.

The three-year report covers offices, retail, industrial property and premises for services. Prices of retail and services premises rose the most by almost a quarter.

The median selling price for offices rose by 14%, from €915 per square metre in 2020 to €1,044 in 2022.

Most of the property transactions involved offices, which represented 45% of all sales.

In Ljubljana, the median price of offices rose by almost 29% to €1,671 from 2020 to 2022, and in the city centre it went up by 39% to €2,460.

The monthly rent in Ljubljana was €10 per square metre in 2022, €12.7 in the city centre. On the coast, the rent was €11.2 and in Maribor EUR 9.5.