Rents for apartments jumped last year by 14 percent in the Czech Republic to CZK 197 per square meter, with the biggest increase among the regional cities taking place in Hradec Králové (28 percent). “The growth in rent is driven by prices on the development market,” said Petr Hána, an analyst at Deloitte. “It’s logical because if I buy at an expensive price, I have to rent it for more as well.” Sales prices for flats in the Czech Republic rose 10.4 percent to CZK 53,700 per square meter, but Deloitte predicts that this growth in prices will slow over the course of 2018. This, in turn, will relax upwards pressure on rents. Hána says that steps taken by the Czech Nationa Bank will serve to reduce the speed of sales of apartments. “Prices won’t fall, but they’ll stabilize,” he predicts. Rents have risen 21 percent in the Czech Republic since 2010 and by nearly 50 percent in Prague.
