Annual growth of House price index in European Union in 2006-2017

The financial crisis of 2008 has caused a number of changes in the investment of both companies and individuals. One of the widely invested assets became the real estate market. The decline in real estate prices was noted in 2009 and 2012-2014. The highest decrease in property prices was indicated in Bulgaria, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia and Estonia. Property prices, despite the crisis, increased however in Belgium and Germany. On average, property prices in the EU declined by 4.4% in 2009, 1.9% in 2012 and 1.2% in 2013.
The real estate market, has been an attractive investment destination for two reasons: firstly, real estate has always been considered a safe investment (excluding, the acquisition on credit, which has become paradoxically the cause of the 2008 crisis), secondly the economy has been caused by significant fluctuations in the level of interest rates (in most European countries, they are at a level close to zero, which in fact means that they are negative when including the impact of inflation).