RE/MAX had a turnover of CZK 1.05 billion last year, which is approximately CZK 70 million less than in 2022. The company exceeded its billion-dollar sales for the third year in a row, but last year’s sales were lower than the year before and in 2021. In total, the network brokered 12,000 transactions almost evenly split between sales and rentals, the company announced.
“The first half saw a continued slowdown in demand caused by a jump in mortgage rates, which made financing more expensive and became a barrier to intended home purchases for many people. While during the period of cheap mortgages we registered up to dozens of people interested in buying an apartment, after the price increase their number dropped significantly,” said Jan Hrubý, CEO of RE/MAX for the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
According to Hrubý, prices of flats decreased, with the rate of decline depending on the location and quality of the property. The biggest price drop was in prefabricated flats and flats before reconstruction, where the average price dropped by 10 percent. According to the latest data from Deloitte’s Rent Index, the average price of flats in the Czech Republic in the third quarter of last year was CZK 89,300 per square metre. Quarter-on-quarter, prices fell by 1.8 per cent, thus decreasing for four consecutive quarters. Analysis by the European Housing Services group said older properties became more expensive in the final quarter of last year. This was up five per cent quarter-on-quarter for flats and eight per cent for houses.
According to Valuo’s analysis, last year saw the lowest number of flats and houses sold in the Czech Republic since 2015. Compared to 2022, flats were sold by nine per cent less and houses by 17 per cent. Sales of cottages and chalets also fell by 19 per cent. However, Hrubý expects the market to recover this year and, above all, demand for own housing to grow. “The main driver of growth will be the ongoing decline in mortgage prices, which may move below the five per cent mark,” Hrubý said.
Its director, Tomáš Jelínek, said that it was a three per cent increase compared to 2022. Last year, Century 21 brokered 16 per cent more sales and 11 per cent more leases. However, Jelínek said a significant change from the year before was that more than half of all transactions last year were leases. “Looking back on 2023, we have to say that spring was definitely one of the worst periods in real estate since 2011, with sales declines in the tens of percent,” Jelinek said.
RE/MAX has been operating in the Czech Republic since 2005. It currently has 175 branches in the Czech Republic and employs 1,252 real estate agents. The company had a turnover of CZK 1.12 billion in 2022 and CZK 1.29 billion in 2021.
Source: RE/MAX and CTK
Photo: Jan Hrubý, CEO, RE/MAX
