Welcome to another edition of Real Estate Week — my Monday look back at what happened to housing, prices and mortgages here in Brno and South Moravia over the past seven days. No scaremongering and no wall of tables: what changed, and what it means for you. If you like hard numbers, you will find them all together at the end of the article.
This week brought quarterly property price data — interesting not just for how high prices are, but for how the character of the market is changing. Add one genuinely useful observation about mortgages and one legal change that kicks in in two weeks.
Flat prices in Brno: record highs, slower pace
The data for the second quarter of 2026 confirms what I also see in daily practice: prices are at record levels, but the pace of growth is slowing. Flats are 11.3% more expensive year on year, yet quarter on quarter the increase is "only" 2.4%. That is still growth — just considerably calmer than what we saw in the spring.
For us in Brno, one figure matters most: average asking prices for new-build flats are approaching CZK 149,000 per square metre. Prague sits roughly a quarter higher, but Brno holds a firm second place and is not drifting away from Prague's numbers.
Far more important than the percentage itself, though, is what is happening beneath the surface. The market has stopped rising across the board. It is becoming selective — and that is a new situation for anyone selling.
In practice this means a well-prepared property in a good location sells decently and in reasonable time (today we typically talk about three to four months). A property with a flaw — poor layout, bad energy rating, unresolved legal issues, an over-ambitious price — sits on the market. Last year, rising demand still carried such properties along. This year it does not.
If you are planning to sell and have in mind the price your neighbour achieved last spring, expect the market to have moved on. Not necessarily downwards — but definitely towards more demanding buyers.
Czech mortgages in August 2026: approval decides, not the rate sheet
I wrote last week about mortgages getting more expensive this year. This week added an observation I find far more useful in practice than the headline number itself.
Put simply: the biggest differences today do not arise in the bank's rate sheet, but during the approval of your specific loan. Banks increasingly work with individual pricing — they look at whether you hold an active account with them, how you document your income, whether you take payment protection insurance, what energy rating the property has, and what percentage of the price you are borrowing.
The consequence is significant: two people with the same loan amount and the same property can receive different offers from the same bank. The advertised rate is therefore a reference point rather than the final word — and a well-prepared application can save real money.
Housing support rules change from 1 September 2026
Finally, something from the legislative side. An amendment to the Housing Support Act (Act No. 129/2026 Coll.) takes effect on 1 September 2026, so in two weeks.
For ordinary people the most practical change is this: the agenda originally intended for dedicated housing contact points is being taken over by the municipal authorities of municipalities with extended powers (obecní úřady obcí s rozšířenou působností). In other words — if you are dealing with housing support, you will go to an office you already know rather than to a newly established one.
The amendment also adjusts the rules on the register of flats. The act has split effectiveness, so not everything starts on 1 September at once.
Smaller floor space as the new normal
One more trend worth mentioning, because it explains a lot of the above. According to a fresh survey, 31% of Czechs already consider smaller living space in new flats and houses to be today's reality, and another 28% expect it within five years. Together, then, almost sixty percent of people are counting on it.
This is not merely resignation. At prices around CZK 149,000/m², every extra square metre is a noticeable budget item — and a cleverly designed smaller flat can be a better buy than a large, impractical one.
What does it mean for buyers and sellers
For buyers: your negotiating position is improving slightly, but only on properties that have some kind of problem. Competition for good flats in Brno has not disappeared. My key advice concerns financing, though — do not take the first mortgage offer and do not judge by the advertised rate alone. Prepare your documents and go through several banks, because that is where what you actually pay is decided today.
For sellers: record prices in the charts do not mean anything sells at any price. The market rewards preparedness — a realistic price, proper presentation, paperwork sorted. An over-ambitious price today costs you mainly time, and the longer a listing sits, the harder the price becomes to defend.
What does it mean for foreigners on the Czech real estate market?
Nothing new specifically for foreigners this week — the same rules apply for Czech, EU and non-EU citizens. The evergreen basics below still hold.
Who can buy. There is no longer any restriction based on citizenship for buying a flat, a house or land in the Czech Republic. Czech nationals, EU citizens and non-EU citizens alike can buy property in their own name, and a foreign company can buy as well. You do not need residency or a permit to own Czech real estate.
Mortgages are a different story. Buying is open to everyone; getting a Czech mortgage is not automatic. Banks assess your residency status, the type and length of your residence permit, where your income comes from and whether it is paid in Czech crowns. EU citizens with a Czech employment contract are usually treated close to Czech applicants; non-EU applicants often face a higher required down payment and more documentation. This week's theme applies to you twice over: since banks price each application individually, the spread between what two banks will offer a foreign applicant is far wider than the spread in their advertised rates. Approach more than one.
Everything runs in Czech crowns. Prices, mortgages and taxes are all in CZK. If you earn in euros or dollars, the exchange rate is a real risk over a 25-year loan — and banks will factor your currency mismatch into the assessment.
Get it checked. Contracts, the title deed (list vlastnictví) and the escrow arrangement deserve review by a Czech lawyer before you sign, and your tax position deserves a Czech tax adviser — especially if you are tax-resident elsewhere or plan to rent the property out. This article is a market overview, not legal or tax advice.
Tip of the week: Before you list a flat, go through the title deed and check whether anything is still on it that you long assumed was resolved — an old lien, an easement, a note. Clearing it in advance takes weeks; discovering it when you already have a buyer with a mortgage and a deadline is needless stress, and it is the most common reason deals get delayed or fall apart.
For those who like numbers
I promised hard data — here it is, with sources:
- Flat prices, Q2 2026: +11.3% year on year, +2.4% quarter on quarter. New builds in Prague are approaching CZK 187,000/m²; in Brno, average asking prices for new builds are nearing CZK 149,000/m². Time to sell currently runs at around three to four months. Commentary provided by Martin Vašek, Chairman of the Board and CEO of ČSOB Hypoteční banka and ČSOB Stavební spořitelna. (source: Hypoindex.cz, 12 Aug 2026)
- Family houses, Q2 2026: +8.6% year on year (the slowest growth on the market), +1.9% quarter on quarter; roughly 8,000 houses sold. (source: Hypoindex.cz, 12 Aug 2026)
- Building plots, Q2 2026: +8.8% year on year, +2.3% quarter on quarter, while supply fell by 9%. Demand concentrates on plots up to 800 m². (source: Hypoindex.cz, 12 Aug 2026)
- Mortgages — individual pricing. The Swiss Life Hypoindex stands at 5.42% in August 2026, 0.53 pp above the March low of 4.89% and 0.10 pp above July. According to mortgage analyst Jiří Sýkora (Swiss Life Select), banks differentiate the rate by account activity, how income is documented, payment protection insurance, the property's energy performance and the LTV ratio — so two clients with the same mortgage amount can receive different offers from the same bank. A well-prepared application, he says, is worth savings in the tens of thousands of crowns over the whole fixation period. (source: Hypoindex.cz, 11 Aug 2026)
- Act No. 129/2026 Coll., amending Act No. 175/2025 Coll. on housing support. Act of 8 July 2026, in force since 23 July 2026, effective from 1 September 2026 (the act has split effectiveness). In Section 10(1)(e) the words "housing contact points" are replaced by "municipal authorities of municipalities with extended powers"; the amendment also adjusts provisions on the register of flats. (source: Collection of Laws / Zákony pro lidi)
- Survey on floor space (Komerční banka): 31% of Czechs regard smaller living space in new flats and houses as today's reality, and another 28% expect it within five years. Among Generation Z, 22% see multifunctional spaces as an everyday reality and 32% expect "mini-homes" to spread within five years. (source: Hypoindex.cz, 14 Aug 2026)
- Case law: the Constitutional Court, in case ref. III. ÚS 2786/24, addressed how courts assess whether a plot of land is a public space. A previous agreement between the landowner and the municipality is, in its view, only one of the pieces of evidence a court must deal with — on its own it does not conclusively determine the character of the land. (source: Constitutional Court, summary of rulings for week 32 of 2026)
A note: the Czech National Bank published no new interest rate decision last week, and the Financial Administration brought no news directly affecting buyers, sellers or landlords.
Thanks for reading. See you in a week over whatever the market brings next.
— Pavel Maloušek, Realiťák Brno