Euro area house prices decreased at a faster pace in the third quarter, European Union statistical office Eurostat said Thursday.
The House Price Index dropped 0.7 percent from the second quarter, when prices fell 0.1 percent, Eurostat said in its first ever publication on the evolution of house prices in the 17-nation currency bloc. In the first quarter of 2012, prices fell 0.7 percent.
Sequentially, the biggest declines were witnessed in the Netherlands and Spain, down 3.9 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. House prices also decreased in Slovenia, Italy, and Portugal.
Year-on-year, house prices dropped 2.5 percent in the third quarter, following a 2.1 percent slump in the previous three months. Spain registered the biggest annual decline of 15.2 percent, which was followed by 9.6 percent drop in Ireland.
Estonia logged the biggest increase both quarterly as well as annually.
In the EU, house prices fell 0.4 percent sequentially in the third quarter, after remaining flat in the previous three months. Among non-euro countries, prices declined in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania. Prices rose 1.7 percent in the U.K., among others.
Annually, house prices slid 1.9 percent in the EU, following a 1.6 percent decline in the previous quarter.
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