Higher mortgage interest rates appear to have done little to bring down home prices, although there are signs of softening demand, the latest statistics show.

Home prices increased by 1.9% in April-June compared to the first quarter of the year and by 7.4% compared to the same period in 2022, The Statistics Office said.

Prices of new residential property went up by 3% in the second quarter after going down 8.4% in the first quarter. The increase was driven by higher prices of new flats.

Prices of resale property rose by 1.8% as both second-hand flats and houses got costlier. Resale flats in Ljubljana were 2.8% more expensive.

Compared to the second quarter of 2022, real estate prices went up by 7.4%, of which prices of second-hand family houses increased the most, by 11.2%, followed by prices of second-hand flats, by 6.1%.

Prices of new houses and flats changed only slightly: the former going up by 0.3% and the latter dropping by 0.2%.

Despite the continued price rises, demand appears to have softened somewhat.

The number of residential property sales was down by 5% quarter-on-quarter and by a third year-on-year.

The total value of all real estate sales in the second quarter was EUR 338 million, which is nearly the same as in the first quarter and down by a third year-on-year.