House prices, as measured by the House Price Index, rose by 5.2% in Malta in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the same quarter the previous year, but fell when compared to the previous quarter.

These figures come from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

In the same period, prices in the euro area rose by 4% and in the EU prices rose by 4.5%.

The highest annual increase was registered in the Czech Republic, where prices rose by 12.8% in Q1 of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016. In Lithuania prices rose by 10.2% and in Latvia by 10.1%.

Prices fell in only two countries; Croatia (-0.4%) and Italy (-0.1%).

When compared to the previous quarter, Q4 of 2016, house prices in Malta fell by 5.4%. In the euro area they rose by 0.4% and in the euro area prices rose by 0.7%.

The highest increases were recorded in the Czech Republic (+2.9%), Latvia (+2.8%) and Sweden (+2.5%), and the largest decreases were registered in Malta (-5.4%), Slovakia (-2.4%) and Cyprus (-1.4%).