Demand for new apartments has fallen substantially and it’s having an impact on how much developers can sell them for. Prices have been growing astronomically over the past couple years, but there’s only so long they can outpace wage rises before they hit some kind of ceiling. Prices were rising at an annual rate of 24 percent in QII, but this slipped to 15.5 percent in Q3. The tighter restrictions placed on mortgage loans in October has contributed to the fall-off in demand. But while buyers are unwilling or unable to pay more, many developers are in no hurry to offer discounts. The average price for a new piece of residential real estate in Prague is now more than CZK 100,000 and shows no sign of falling beneath that level. The website Valuo.cz, which analyzes information from the primary Czech real estate servers, found 5,057 flats being offered at reduced rates in June (when the mortgage restrictions were announced). This number fell to 2,195 in October.
