In the third quarter of this year, Trigema, in cooperation with the Flat Zone portal from publicly available records on about 20 real estate servers, offered the number of rental apartments offered in the metropolis by 39 percent in the third quarter – there were 8,275 on the market. to add that such a significant decrease is due to the comparative base, which was jumped up due to the pandemic, when the apartments originally offered apartments for short-term rent appeared in the offer.

The prospects are bleak

Not only a return to normal life and more people living in Prague, but also rising prices of investment apartments affecting the level of rents, which returned to pre-pandemic levels at the end of this third quarter. The current average unit price is 330 crowns per square meter of gross rent, which is even 2.5 percent more than in the same period in 2019.

The increase in Prague rental prices in its absolute expression is then copied by the unit indicator. During the first quarter, the measured value of the monthly gross rent was used from CZK 20,149 to CZK 23,276. A similar sharp jump was recorded in the spring of 2018.

According to the head of Trigema, it is necessary to count on further growth in rents in the future as well. “With people migrating to the capital, which is the strongest economically in the country, demand will continue to grow. The gradual resumption of tourism is likely to revive the short-term rental market. Many potential sellers of second-hand flats will eventually keep the property due to inflation and will also want to achieve operating income, notwithstanding the rise in investment flat prices, which will also be reflected in rental growth, ”explains Soural on the Prague rental market.

Rental housing attracts developers as well as investors

Several new development projects are currently growing or being prepared in Prague, which are offering hundreds of new rental apartments. By the end of the third quarter, 71 such projects were already completed and in operation in the capital, in which there are approximately three thousand flats. And even projects find themselves in the search engine.

“The lists on the domestic market remain unchanged even after the third quarter, but the investor’s priority to a certain development is still there: residential properties are still visibly reflected in the balance sheet. Specifically, older apartment buildings and new buildings for rent, “says Kamila Breen, head of consulting and market research at BNP Paribas Real Estate, adding that investors have paid more than 100 million euros for this type of property since January this year, in terms of 2 .5 billion crowns.

However, the interest of buyers is not only focused on Prague, but also on large cities such as Brno, Pilsen and Ostrava. The purchase of rental apartment buildings is also not only a trend in the Czech Republic, it can be observed throughout Europe.

The largest share of the rental housing market since last year has been in Prague 5, where 16.2 percent of the offered rental flats (over 1,300 units) were located in the last third quarter. Other important and at the same time balanced localities are Prague 1 and Prague 2, as well as Prague 4. Together, these city districts “hold” 56 percent of the total Prague offer.

The biggest jump in the decline was recorded at the end of the third quarter in Prague 8.

The most expensive apartments for rent are still in the center of Prague, where you can rent an apartment for 375 crowns per square meter and it is necessary to take into account that the total price of a monthly rent significantly exceeds 30,000 crowns.

The cheapest is still Prague 4, where it can be rented for an average of CZK 15,666 (CZK 289 / m2). On average, rental flats in Prague 9 and Prague 10 are also below or at the 300-crown border.

Source: Trigema and flat zone