Helgi's Point - Housing Affordability within Czech Republic

Czech real estate prices have tripled over the last decade in USD terms. The average dwelling (a 64 sqm flat) costs around USD 70,000. In Prague, the Czech capital city, however, you would pay over USD 150,000 for a flat of the same size. The affordability of housing has improved in recent years, especially when lower interest rates on mortgages are taken into account. To buy a flat, it would take an average earner over four annual gross salaries now. Based on the average earnings, Czechs and Hungarians can afford buying the largest, or the best house in the Emerging Europe. Average Romanian, or Bulgarian has to save twice as long as the average Czech to buy to the same size flat. But, there are big differences within the Czech Republic as well. While average citizen of Prague has to put aside 8 annual salaries to buy an average flat, it takes slightly more than two years to save for a flat in Ostrava, for example.