Dwelling price index up by 9.2% in the first quarter

Lii Kruusla, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that, in the first quarter of 2026, apartment prices went up by 9.2% and the prices of houses by 9.1% compared with the previous quarter. “When compared with the fourth quarter of last year, the biggest rise occurred in the square metre prices of new apartments located outside Tallinn,” noted Kruusla.

“In the first quarter, the dwelling price index showed quite a sharp rise compared with the same quarter of 2025 due to increased square metre prices,” said Kruusla. The prices of apartments rose by 14.9% and the prices of houses by 5.9%. There was a rise in dwelling acquisitions outside Tallinn, while the purchases of dwellings in Tallinn decreased slightly.

The monetary volume of transactions in the first quarter of 2026 was higher than in the first quarter of 2025 but lower than in the previous quarter. “This is not unusual, as the monetary volume of transactions in the first quarter has trended similarly for five years now,” explained Kruusla.

The monetary volume of house purchases remained at the same level as the year before. There was a slight decline in acquisitions of existing houses and a modest increase in purchases of newly built houses. In the case of apartments, there were more purchases of both existing and new apartments.

The dwelling price index expresses the changes in the square metre prices of transactions made by households for the purchase of dwellings, and it is compiled for apartments and houses (detached, semi-detached, and terraced houses).

In the first quarter, the owner-occupied housing price index rose by 2.1% compared with the fourth quarter of 2025 and by 4.1% compared with the first quarter of 2025.

The owner-occupied housing price index expresses the changes in the prices of the acquisition of dwellings new to the household sector and other goods and services that households purchase in their role as owner-occupiers. The index consists of the acquisition of dwellings, other services related to the acquisition of dwellings, major repairs and maintenance, and insurance connected with dwellings.

The main representative of public interest for the dwelling price index is the Ministry of Finance, commissioned by whom Statistics Estonia collects and analyses the data necessary for conducting the statistical activity. The data help to get an overview of the current state of the Estonian economy.

Data as at 19 June 2026 are published. The indicator values may change if there are any revisions made in the data sources after this date.

See also the prices section on our website.

More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.

When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.

For further information:

Annaliisa Köss
Media Relations Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484
press [at] stat.ee

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