Rent affordability has been improving lately

Rent affordability has been improving over the long term, as wages have been rising faster than rents and rent growth has been much slower than the increase in residential property prices. Rents fell sharply during the pandemic and then rebounded after the start of the war in Ukraine. Over the past ten years, they have risen by 28%, less than half the 80% increase in apartment prices. Last year, rents rose by only 2%, below inflation, driven by a drop in mortgage rates that made it easier for households to acquire property. As a result, the share of rent in gross wages in Bratislava fell to 47% last year from 50% the year before. In Trenčín, the share was just 33%.

(dennikN.sk)