Housing affordability deteriorated sharply since 2020

Housing affordability has deteriorated sharply since the pandemic, with the monthly mortgage payment on an average 70 sqm apartment rising from 27% of the average wage in 2Q20 to 48% now, according to central bank NBS data. It was last at that level in 4Q10, after which record-low mortgage rates helped improve it. Mortgage rates fell from 5.6% in 2010 to as low as 0.9% in 4Q20, before climbing back to the current 3.6%. Apartment prices, moreover, are rising faster than average wages.

(trend.sk)