House prices, as measured by the House Price Index (HPI), fell by 1.8% in the euro area and by 1.4% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the same quarter of the previous year, according to data published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Compared with the third quarter of 2012, house prices fell by 0.5% in the euro area and by 0.7% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2012.

House price developments in the EU Member States

Among the Member States for which data are available, the highest annual increases in house prices in the fourth quarter of 2012 were recorded in Latvia (+9.8%), Estonia (+5.8%) and Malta (+5.4%), and the largest falls in Spain (-12.8%), Romania (-9.1%), and Slovenia (-8.8%).

The highest quarterly increases in the fourth quarter of 2012 were recorded in Latvia (+4.2%), Malta (+2.1%) and Luxembourg (+1.6%), and the largest falls in Romania (-7.9%), Slovenia (-3.5%) and Hungary (-2.2%).