The highest number of initiated and completed apartments up to September this year is recorded in the Central Bohemian Region

Prague – Almost 32,000 apartments began construction in the Czech Republic this year from January to the end of September, which is a year-on-year decrease of 4.7 percent. There were just under 27,000 completed apartments, an increase of 11 percent compared to the same period last year. According to data released today by the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ), the highest number of both started and completed apartments is recorded in the Central Bohemia Region, where they are predominantly single-family houses. In Prague, according to statisticians, apartment buildings are being constructed the most.

A total of 31,974 apartments were started in the Czech Republic until September this year. In the Central Bohemia Region, there were 5,654 (of which 3,617 in single-family houses), which is 392 fewer than last year. By the end of September, a total of 4,251 apartments were started in the metropolis, a decrease of 35.4 percent compared to the last eight months of the previous year. In September alone, construction began on 43.4 percent fewer apartments compared to last year. For example, in September, 62 new apartments were started in Prague.

"Which is desperately little. Essentially, it means one small residential project," said the chairman of the board of the development company Ekospol, Evžen Korec. Since the beginning of the year, according to ČSÚ, 3,753 new apartments have begun construction in the capital. Korec estimates that a similar pace will lead to about 5,000 new apartments being started by the end of the year, which, according to him and other developers, is half of the required amount.

The smaller number of started apartment constructions is also associated with low demand. Sales of new apartments in Prague, according to Ekospol's data, are the lowest in the last 15 years. "The main reason is the rising costs of mortgages and their actual inaccessibility even for most representatives of the middle class," Korec stated.

By September, 26,927 apartments were completed in the Czech Republic. In the Central Bohemia Region, a total of 5,438 apartments were completed (of which 3,698 in single-family houses), an 11 percent increase year-on-year. In Prague, 4,634 apartments were completed, 25.8 percent more than last year, with 83.5 percent located in new apartment buildings. The fewest started (747) and completed (541) apartments were in the Karlovy Vary Region. There were also fewer than 1,000 completed apartments in the Liberec (671) and Ústí nad Labem (947) regions.

The number of newly started single-family houses by the end of September was 15,963, which is practically the same as a year ago (15,649). Besides Central Bohemia, the most were started in the South Moravian Region (2,022), while the least were in the Karlovy Vary Region (334) and in Prague (481), according to ČSÚ data.

Construction production in the Czech Republic in September fell by 3.7 percent year-on-year according to statisticians. According to Korec, the slowdown is also affecting those interested in owning their own housing, and apartment construction is significantly slowing down. "The accessibility of homeownership, which is already very poor, will only worsen even more. The sector is still searching for its bottom," he said.