Brno flat prices and mortgages – Real Estate Week 19 Oct 2026

Welcome to another Real Estate Week — my Monday look back at what happened on the Czech property market, with a focus on Brno and South Moravia.

Fresh third-quarter data came out last week and flat prices in Brno look the same as ever: up. An older 80 m² flat here has crossed CZK 10 million for the first time.

Beneath the surface, though, the market is starting to crack. Supply is growing, fewer people are responding to listings, and a gap is opening between "good" and "problem" flats that asking prices do not admit yet. Add September mortgage data and one thing about divorce that people usually learn too late. All the hard numbers are at the end.

Flat prices in Brno in Q3 2026: an 80 m² flat for ten million

Older flats in Brno have become roughly 8% more expensive in a year. That sounds modest until you convert it into crowns. A typical 80 m² flat now costs over CZK 10 million — almost CZK 720,000 more than a year ago. That is the price of a decent car, paid by the buyer simply for waiting a year.

Compared with spring, however, the price moved only about one percent. Growth is slowing in both Brno and Prague. The fastest price rises are now in cheaper cities such as Ostrava and Ústí nad Labem, where buyers priced out of the big cities are moving.

What it means for buyers

Waiting for prices to drop has cost you more over the past year than any discount would have saved. That does not mean you should buy the first flat you see. Quite the opposite — read on.

Selling a flat in Brno in autumn 2026: the paradox of two panel blocks

This is my story of the week. An analysis by the Bezrealitky portal describes something I have been seeing at viewings for a few months. Two identical flats sit in two panel blocks next to each other. One building has been insulated, has new windows and renovated common areas. The other has seen no real investment in forty years.

In listings both flats have almost the same price. They sell very differently — the one in the unrenovated building for up to 15% less. Its owner simply priced it by the logic of a market that only ever went up.

On top of that, the number of flats for sale has been rising since late summer and responses to listings have dropped. The data are national, not Brno-only, but Brno has plenty of housing estates — Lesná, Bohunice, Líšeň — and the gap will show here just the same.

What it means for sellers

• A renovated flat in a good building still sells fast and without a big discount. Nothing changes there.
• A flat in a building nobody has invested in must not copy the neighbour's asking price. The buyer knows, the bank knows, and so does the valuer. Price it "like next door" and you will wait, then cut the price under pressure.
• Renting it out as an escape does not work so well this time. Rents are no longer growing fast enough to pay for holding a flat "until better times".

Want to know which category your flat really belongs to and what buyers will pay for it today? I will work it out from actual sales nearby, not from listings.

What it means for buyers

If you have cash or financing arranged, this autumn puts you in the best position for a long time. Flats in unrenovated buildings are negotiable. Above all, do not pay the price of a renovated building for an unrenovated one. Ask about planned repairs and the repair fund before you sign a reservation.

Czech mortgages in September 2026: we borrow more, but fewer of us

Banks lent more money in new mortgages in September than in August, even though September is usually a weaker month. The more interesting half of the story: the number of mortgages was about one eighth lower than a year earlier. Fewer people are borrowing more money. It makes sense — flats are more expensive and the same 80 m² flat needs a bigger loan than a year ago.

For the full year it looks like a solid but not record mortgage year. Rates are holding near their highs and banks are increasingly offering shorter fixed-rate periods.

For buyers: a shorter fix is a bet that rates will be lower in two or three years. It may pay off. It may not. Before you take it, check whether you could carry an instalment one percentage point higher.

For sellers: there were fewer buyers with a mortgage in September than a year ago, and each of them is at the ceiling of what the bank will lend. That is why the asking price is just a wish — what passes the bank's valuation decides.

In brief: building permits, rents and new legislation

• Permitting is still the bottleneck. A survey of construction firms and developers, presented at a meeting at the Czech National Bank, shows that slow and unpredictable permitting troubles almost all developers. They expect the amended Building Act to speed things up in three to five years rather than right away. For Brno this means one thing: there will not be more new builds tomorrow just because the law changed.
• Rents in the Czech Republic are rising faster than prices overall. Inflation picked up in September and rents rose more than twice as fast as prices overall year on year. According to market data, though, the steep rent growth of recent years has calmed down.
• The Collection of Laws published a new decree on energy audits. It is a corporate matter under the Energy Management Act and has nothing to do with the energy performance certificate (PENB) you need to sell a flat. The Financial Administration published nothing related to property last week.

Did you know? Are you off the mortgage after a divorce if your ex keeps the flat?

💡 Did you know? I get this phone call a few times a year. A divorced man, his ex-wife kept the flat, she pays the mortgage. Now he wants to buy his own studio. "A friend told me the divorce settled it. The flat isn't mine, so why would the bank care?"

It does. A lot.

A divorce is a matter between spouses. A loan agreement is a matter between you and the bank. For the bank, nothing changed with the divorce — you are still a co-borrower. Until the bank itself agrees to release you from the loan, in its eyes you keep paying. The whole amount.

What follows from that? First: if your ex stops paying, the bank will come to you for the money. Completely legally. Second: that other mortgage sits in the credit register and eats into your creditworthiness. The bank will lend you less for the studio, or nothing at all.

There are solutions. The partner who keeps the flat takes over the loan alone — if their income is high enough. Or the flat is sold and the mortgage is repaid from the purchase price. Both need the bank's consent, not just a signed agreement between the spouses.

What to do about it: When splitting a mortgaged flat after a divorce, do not sign the property settlement or the transfer of your share until the bank has confirmed in writing that it will release you from the loan. Signing the agreement without the bank's consent does not get you out of the debt.

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.

Two of this week's topics are still worth a note if you are an expat. The gap between renovated and unrenovated buildings is easy to miss if you do not know the local housing estates, so ask about the state of the building, not just the flat. And the divorce point applies to you too: if you and a former partner have a joint Czech mortgage, the bank treats you both as borrowers until it agrees otherwise — even if one of you has moved abroad.

The evergreen basics still hold:

• Anyone can buy. Since 2011 there is no restriction based on citizenship or residence for buying flats, houses or land in the Czech Republic. A non-EU citizen with no Czech residence permit can buy a flat in Brno on the same terms as a Czech buyer. Agricultural and forest land has its own rules, so check before you buy.
• Mortgages are a different story. Banks are free to set their own conditions and they do differentiate. EU citizens usually get close to Czech terms; non-EU applicants are often asked for a permanent or long-term residence permit, a longer income history in the Czech Republic, and a bigger deposit. Compare several banks.
• Income in a foreign currency is a handicap. Czech mortgages are in CZK. If you earn in euros or dollars, banks tend to discount that income and you carry the exchange-rate risk on every instalment.
• Renting works the same for everyone. The Civil Code protects tenants equally. Ask for a written lease, a handover protocol with photos, and a receipt for the deposit.
• Always verify with a Czech lawyer and your bank. Rules on residence, taxation of rental income and the mechanics of escrow accounts change, and your personal situation matters more than any general article. I can recommend people in Brno who work with foreign clients regularly.

For those who like numbers

Prices of older flats (Valuo, Q3 2026; privately owned flats in average or renovated condition)

• Brno: CZK 125,373 per m² (Q2 2026: CZK 123,972; Q3 2025: CZK 116,375); +1% quarter on quarter, +8% year on year.
• Brno, model 80 m² flat: CZK 10.03 million (a year earlier CZK 9.31 million), i.e. almost CZK 720,000 more.
• Prague: CZK 159,605 per m² (+7% year on year); 80 m² flat CZK 12.77 million (+CZK 803,000).
• Ostrava: CZK 69,276 per m² (+12%); Ústí nad Labem: CZK 52,262 per m² (+14% year on year, −4% quarter on quarter); Olomouc: CZK 92,196 per m² (+5%).
• Czech median: CZK 86,538 per m², +10% year on year, +1% quarter on quarter.
• Source: Valuo data, via Hypoindex.cz

Supply and the "paradox of two panel blocks" (Bezrealitky, October 2026)

• Asking prices of flats in Q3: roughly +1% on the national average.
• Responses per listing down by about 15–20% over the past month.
• A flat in an unrenovated building sells at a transaction price up to 15% lower than a comparable flat in a renovated one, while asking prices differ by only a few percent.
• Category C flats (average property, often a panel flat on a standard housing estate) make up about 36% of Bezrealitky's listings.
• The data are national, from Bezrealitky's direct listings, not specific to Brno.
• Source: Hypoindex.cz

Mortgages in September 2026 (Czech Banking Association Hypomonitor)

• New mortgages excluding refinancing: CZK 28 billion, 5% more than in August and 5% more year on year; seasonally adjusted CZK 29.6 billion.
• Number of new mortgages: 5,995, +2.9% month on month, −12% year on year.
• Since January: CZK 301.4 billion (about +CZK 66 billion year on year) and 64,000 loans (+13%).
• Full-year 2026 estimate: 82,000 to 82,500 mortgages (about +8%); for comparison, the record year 2021 saw about 114,000.
• The average new mortgage in September works out at roughly CZK 4.7 million (my own calculation: CZK 28 billion / 5,995 loans).
• Swiss Life Hypoindex for October: average offered rate 5.79%.
• Source: Hypoindex.cz

Building permits (CEEC Research with the Ministry for Regional Development and IDB, September 2026)

• Survey of 110 construction firms and 41 developers.
• 80% of construction firms and 93% of developers call the length and unpredictability of permitting a major problem.
• Construction firms most often expect permitting to speed up in 1–2 years, developers rather in 3–5 years.
• Source: Hypoindex.cz

Inflation and rents (Czech Statistical Office, September 2026)

• Consumer prices +2.5% year on year (August +1.9%), 0.0% month on month.
• Rents +6.1% year on year, +0.4% month on month (new and existing leases).
• Owner-occupied housing costs (imputed rent) +5.1% year on year (August +5.4%).
• Source: Czech Statistical Office — Consumer price indices, September 2026

Mortgage and divorce (Did you know?)

• A divorce by itself does not change the borrowers' position towards the bank; both former spouses remain co-borrowers until the bank approves another solution (one of them taking over the loan, or selling the property and repaying the loan).
• After marriage, banks normally require both spouses to join the mortgage application unless their community property has been narrowed by a notarial deed.
• Source: Hypoindex.cz — Mortgage before or after the wedding (in Czech)

Legislation

• Decree No. 183/2026 Coll., on energy audits and energy management systems, effective from 1 November 2026. Source: zakonyprolidi.cz
• Neither the Financial Administration nor the Constitutional Court published anything last week directly concerning the sale, purchase or rental of property.

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If you are dealing with a sale or purchase in Brno or South Moravia, or just want to know whether your flat's price holds up next to the neighbouring listings, get in touch. The first consultation is free and does not commit you to anything.

Pavel Maloušek, Realiťák Brno