Purchasing a new 70-square-metre apartment in Prague now requires 15.5 years’ worth of gross wages, up by one year compared to six months ago, and five years more than in 2015. Prague continues to have the least affordable housing market in Central Europe, according to an analysis by Central Group presented to journalists today. The supply of new apartments in Prague has declined by 1% since the start of the year. Persistent demand exceeding supply has driven the price of new apartments up by 10% year-on-year — the highest rate among major cities in the region. Although around 150,000 new apartments are at various stages of preparation in Prague, developers are facing delays due to a protracted and complex permitting process. These projects could eventually provide housing for approximately 300,000 people. The largest numbers of new apartments under preparation are located in Prague 9 and Prague 5, with more than 12,500 units in the approval phase in Prague 5 and over 9,000 in Prague 9. Dušan Kunovský, founder and CEO of Central Group, emphasized the need to accelerate the permitting process. “However, expediting permitting alone is not enough. It is also necessary to make spatial planning more flexible and reduce excessive regulations that increase the cost of housing construction,” he stated. Comparatively, purchasing a new apartment requires 14.8 years of wages in Bratislava, about 11 years in Munich, 8.5 years in Warsaw, and fewer than eight years in Berlin and Vienna. According to a joint analysis by Trigema, Central Group, and Skanska Residential, developers sold 2,550 new apartments in Prague in the first quarter of 2025 — an increase of 60% year-on-year and the highest first-quarter figure in the past 15 years. Higher quarterly sales figures were only recorded in the second quarter of 2021. The average asking price for new apartments reached CZK 167,947 per square metre in the first quarter, 10% higher year-on-year and 2.9% higher compared to the previous quarter. The recent decline in interest rates has been a significant driver of increased demand for new apartments. Additionally, investors are turning to real estate amid volatility in financial markets. Based on Central Group data, the average gross monthly wage in Prague is CZK 63,106, while the average price of a new 70-square-metre apartment is CZK 11,756,291. The affordability index uses wage data from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and apartment prices from the developers’ joint analysis. Data from the Czech Statistical Office show the average gross wage in Prague was slightly lower, at CZK 62,472, in the first quarter.