In the presented European countries, the homeownership rate extended from 42 percent in Switzerland to as much as 96 percent in Albania. Countries with more mature rental markets, such as France, Germany, the UK and Switzerland, tended to have a lower homeownership rate compared to the frontier countries, such as Lithuania or Slovakia. The share of house owners among the population of all 27 European countries has remained relatively stable over the past few years. Average cost of housing Countries with lower homeownership rates tend to have higher house prices. In 2023, the average transaction price for a house was notably higher in Western and Northern Europe than in Eastern and Southern Europe. In Austria - one of the most expensive European countries to buy a new dwelling in - the average price was three times higher than in Greece. Looking at house price growth, however, the most expensive markets recorded slower house price growth compared to the mid-priced markets. Housing supply With population numbers rising across Europe, the need for affordable housing continues. In 2023, European countries completed between one and six housing units per 1,000 citizens, with Ireland, Poland, and Denmark responsible heading the ranking. One of the major challenges for supplying the market with more affordable homes is the rising construction costs. In 2021 and 2022, housing construction costs escalated dramatically due to soaring inflation, which has had a significant effect on new supply.

Nearly one out of four European consumers who were tenants in 2019, believed they would not be able to buy a home in the future. This belief was especially shared in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, and the UK. However, those who did expect to eventually become first-home buyers believed it was more likely to happen once they passed the age of 35. Indeed, in 2019, roughly 16 percent of European respondents believed they had to wait until they were older than 35 to be able to buy a property.

Geneva stands out as Europe's most expensive city for apartment purchases in early 2025, with prices reaching a staggering 15,720 euros per square meter. This Swiss city's real estate market dwarfs even high-cost locations like Zurich and London, highlighting the extreme disparities in housing affordability across the continent. The stark contrast between Geneva and more affordable cities like Nantes, France, where the price was 3,700 euros per square meter, underscores the complex factors influencing urban property markets in Europe. Rental market dynamics and affordability challenges While purchase prices vary widely, rental markets across Europe also show significant differences. London maintained its position as the continent's priciest city for apartment rentals in 2023, with the average monthly costs for a rental apartment amounting to 36.1 euros per square meter. This figure is double the rent in Lisbon, Portugal or Madrid, Spain, and substantially higher than in other major capitals like Paris and Berlin. The disparity in rental costs reflects broader economic trends, housing policies, and the intricate balance of supply and demand in urban centers. Economic factors influencing housing costs The European housing market is influenced by various economic factors, including inflation and energy costs. As of April 2025, the European Union's inflation rate stood at 2.4 percent, with significant variations among member states. Romania experienced the highest inflation at 4.9 percent, while France and Cyprus maintained lower rates. These economic pressures, coupled with rising energy costs, contribute to the overall cost of living and housing affordability across Europe. The volatility in electricity prices, particularly in countries like Italy where rates are projected to reach 153.83 euros per megawatt hour by February 2025, further impacts housing-related expenses for both homeowners and renters.

This indicator is defined as the median of the distribution of the share of total housing costs (net of housing allowances) in the total disposable household income (net of housing allowances) presented by age group.

This statistic shows the answers to a survey question asking at what age consumers who had not bought their first property yet in Belgium in 2018 at which age they expected to do so. 13 percent answered they expected to buy under the age of 30, while 39 percent of the respondents answered they believed they would not be able to buy. Both numbers are higher than the European average.

This dataset provides values for HOME OWNERSHIP RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Average age of persons in subsidised renting households

Analysis of ‘Median of the housing cost burden distribution by age, sex and poverty status - EU-SILC survey’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets/tqrwagtgnqhrzzkbbwco8q on 30 September 2021.

--- No further description of dataset provided by original source ---

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

The mortgage prevalence among homeowners in Europe varied widely across different countries in 2023. About ** percent of the total population in Norway was a homeowner, with ** percent paying out a mortgage loan. Conversely, only *** percent of households in Romania had a mortgage, with nearly ** percent being homeowners. Meanwhile, an average of ** percent of the total population within the EU-27 was an owner-occupant with a mortgage or housing loan. Homeownership depends on multiple factors, such as housing policy, the macroeconomic situation, the state of the housing sector, and the availability of finance. Countries with more developed mortgage markets tend to have lower mortgage interest rates.

Median of the housing cost burden distribution by age group - EU-SILC survey

Average age of household reference person

Average age detail of the premises in the city of Barcelona which have housing as its main use and destination

Average age of household reference person

One of the main factors driving high rents across European cities is the same as any other consumer-driven business. If demand outweighs supply, prices will inflate. The drive for high paid professionals to be located centrally in prime locations, mixed with the low levels of available space, high land, and construction costs, all keep rental prices increasing. Renting in European cities In 2025, Munich was the most expensive city to rent a furnished studio among the 23 cities surveyed. At ***** euros per month, renting a studio in Munich cost nearly twice the price of a studio in Athens. For one-bedroom apartments or a furnished private room, the most expensive city was Amsterdam. Homeownership in Europe In many European countries owning your home is more commonplace than renting – for instance, in Romania, the homeownership rate is over ** percent. In the UK, affordability of housing is one of the leading housing concerns, with the majority of adults agreeing that first-time buyers getting on a property ladder is a very or somewhat serious problem.

Median of the housing cost burden distribution by age, sex and poverty status

age-class altersklasse classe-d_a_ge einkommenssituation-in-bezug-auf-die-armutsrisikogrenze entite_-ge_opolitique-_de_clarante_ fre_quence-_relative-au-temps_ geopolitical-entity-_reporting_ geopolitische-meldeeinheit geschlecht income-situation-in-relation-to-the-risk-of-poverty-threshold maßeinheit sex sexe situation-du-revenu-par-rapport-au-seuil-de-risque-de-pauvrete_ time-frequency unit-of-measure unite_-de-mesure zeitliche-frequenz

Annual house price inflation, simple and mix-adjusted average house prices, by dwelling, type of buyer, number of transactions, mortgage advances, distribution of borrowers' ages/incomes, interest rates, land prices, average valuations, Land Registry data

Data for the 28 countries of the European Union as well as Norway on following variables influencing the countries' energy consumption: - self-constructed weighted average price index - HDD - longitude - latitude - age - average floor area - GDP per capita - home ownership - share of apartment - share of new buildings - share of district heating

In 2021, Slovakia had the highest average household size among EU member states, at 2.9 people per household. By contrast, Finland had the lowest average household size, at 1.9 people per household.

• Name: Characterization of investments profiles on the energy transition for european citizens
• Summary: The dataset contains: (1) surveyee consent form for the study, (2) different scenarios about the energy transition, (3) determinant factors about those scenarios, (4) socioeconomic description of the surveyee, (5) investment decisions, (6) and household characterization/description.
• License: cc-BY-SA
• Acknowledge: These data have been collected in the framework of the WHY project. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 891943.
• Disclaimer: The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) or the European commission (Ec). EASME or the Ec are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
• Collection Date: 22/07/2022
• Publication Date: 15/10/2023
• DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4455198
• Other repositories:
• Author: University of Deusto
• Objective of collection: This data was originally collected to analyze quantitatively the decisions of everyday people in relation to their energy consumption and their reactions to specific political interventions.
• Description: The dataset contains a CSV file file containing data collected from a survey about energy consumption investments. The fields that can be found for each entry are (1) Different scenarios about the energy transition and reactions to those scenarios, (money spent on energy investments, decisions about scenarios, actions taken under a blackout, etc.) (2) Determinant factors about the chosen scenarios in the previous question, which include different choices that could affect your decision about a scenario (3) socioeconomic information about the user (age, country of residence, studies), (4) estimation of the prices of various technologies related to the energy transition and (5) descriptive statistics about the household living situation (gender of user, people living in household, yearly rent, average savings per month, type of house, size of house) and also includes questions about climate change expertise. Next you can found a description of each field in the dataset
  • Section 1 - Scenarios for energy transition.
    • ID90. Rank in order of priority, from top to bottom, in which scenario you will be willing to live or to contribute/invest to make it possible.
    • ID36, ID38, ID43, ID44, ID72. Percentage of money people are willing to spend/save out of their income per scenario
    • ID191, ID192.. Amount of money people would spend based on an assumed case.
    • ID191, ID192. Priority service provision in case of Intermittent energy service. Rating energy services from 0 to 10 stars, where 0 stars means it is extremely low priority for you and 10 stars means it is absolutely necessary for you.
    • [ID325, ID326, ID327, ID328, ID329, ID330, ID331, ID332, ID333, ID334, ID335, ID336, ID337, ID338, ID339, ID340, ID341, ID133, ID242]. Priority service provision in case of Intermittent energy service. Rating energy services from 0 to 10 stars, where 0 stars means it is extremely low priority and 10 stars means it is absolutely necessary.
    • [ID251, ID256, ID257, ID292, ID293, ID294, ID295, ID296, ID297, ID298, ID299, ID301, ID302, ID303, ID304, ID305, ID306, ID250, ID251]. Priority service provision in case of full black-outs. Rating energy services from 0 to 10 stars, where 0 stars means it is extremely low priority and 10 stars means it is absolutely necessary.
    • [ID141, ID5, ID147]. Used for statements that best represent survey responder

      </li>
      <li><strong>Section 2 - Determinants (factors).</strong> Questions used to rate (from 0 to 100) factors that may influence the decision-making process contributing to make an ideal scenario possible.
      <ul>
        <li><strong>ID100</strong> Risk profile</li>
        <li><strong>ID101</strong> Added value</li>
        <li><strong>ID102</strong> Self-Satisfaction</li>
        <li><strong>ID103</strong> Technical Fit</li>
        <li><strong>ID104</strong> Own competence</li>
        <li><strong>ID105</strong> Knowledge</li>
        <li><strong>ID106</strong> Cost-Efficiency</li>
        <li><strong>ID107</strong> Safety</li>
        <li><strong>ID108</strong> Trust</li>
        <li><strong>ID109</strong> Autarky</li>
        <li><strong>ID110</strong> Legal</li>
        <li><strong>ID111</strong> Climate Protection</li>
        <li><strong>ID112</strong> Wellbeing</li>
        <li><strong>ID113</strong> Coziness</li>
        <li><strong>ID114</strong> Rights and Duties</li>
        <li><strong>ID115</strong> Peer-Pressure</li>
        <li><strong>ID116</strong> Socialising</li>
        <li><strong>ID117</strong> Support</li>
        <li><strong>ID118</strong> Agreement</li>
        <li><strong>ID119</strong> Brag</li>
        <li><strong>ID120</strong> Fun</li>
        <li><strong>ID121</strong> Novelty</li>
        <li><strong>ID122</strong> Trends</li>
        <li><strong>ID123</strong> Authority</li>
        <li><strong>ID124</strong> Own Significance</li>
        <li><strong>ID125</strong> Poseur</li>
        <li><strong>ID2</strong> Frugality</li>
        <li><strong>ID3</strong> Environmental concerns</li>
        <li><strong>ID31</strong> Adherence</li>
        <li><strong>ID52</strong> Commitment</li>
        <li><strong>ID97</strong> Profits</li>
        <li><strong>ID99</strong> Credit Score</li>
      </ul>
      </li>
      <li><strong>Section 3 - “Socio-economic” description. </strong>Questions about the socio-economic information of the survey respondents for data stratification. The indentation represents the dependency of questions and whether this data was asked
      <ul>
        <li><strong>ID164</strong> Understanding of questions</li>
        <li><strong>ID300</strong> Country of residence</li>
        <li><strong>ID137</strong> Age</li>
        <li><strong>ID178</strong> Highest level of education</li>
        <li><strong>ID136</strong> Willingness to provide data on the investment decision (respond apply for -Investment decision section)</li>
      </ul>
      </li>
      <li><strong>Section 4 - Investment decision</strong>. Questions about specific prices of potential purchases-decisions related to four scenarios (respondent's lifestyle)
      <ul>
        <li>Appliances
        <ul>
          <li><strong>ID42</strong> Affordable cost of a Regular refrigerator</li>
          <li><strong>ID45</strong> Energy efficient refrigerator costs</li>
          <li><strong>ID50</strong> Willingness to purchase an energy efficient refrigerator
          <ul>
            <li><strong>ID65</strong> Why no</li>
            <li><strong>ID66</strong> affordable cost of an energy efficient option</li>
            <li><strong>ID67</strong> Years to amortize an efficient option</li>
          </ul>
          </li>
        </ul>
        </li>
        <li>Insulation
        <ul>
          <li><strong>ID47</strong> Affordable cost of updating to a state of the art insulation on the facade</li>
          <li><strong>ID56</strong> Willingness for paying/invest
          <ul>
            <li><strong>ID74</strong> Why no?</li>
            <li><strong>ID20</strong> affordable cost of an energy efficient option</li>
            <li><strong>ID34</strong> Years to amortize an energy efficient option</li>
          </ul>
          </li>
        </ul>
        </li>
        <li>Energy Generation
        <ul>
          <li><strong>ID68</strong> Affordable cost of a solar photovoltaic system</li>
          <li><strong>ID76</strong> Willingness for paying/invest
          <ul>
            <li><strong>ID84</strong> Why no?</li>
            <li><strong>ID132</strong> Affordable cost of a photovoltaic system</li>
            <li><strong>ID138</strong> Years that amortize a photovoltaic system</li>
          </ul>
          </li>
        </ul>
        </li>
        <li>Energy Storage
        <ul>
          <li><strong>ID142</strong> Affordable cost of an energy storage system</li>
          <li><strong>ID146</strong> Willingness for paying/invest
          <ul>
            <li><strong>ID181</strong> Why no? </li>
            <li><strong>ID182</strong> Affordable cost of an energy storage system </li>
            <li><strong>ID183</strong> Years that amortize an energy storage systems</li>
          </ul>
          </li>
        </ul>
        </li>
        <li>Heating
        <ul>
          <li><strong>ID140</strong> Affordable cost of a gas boiler</li>
          <li><strong>ID209</strong> Affordable cost of an energy efficient heating system</li>
          <li><strong>ID217</strong> Willingness for paying/invest
          <ul>
            <li><strong>ID238</strong> Why no?</li>
            <li><strong>ID239</strong> Affordable cost of a energy efficient option</li>
            <li><strong>ID241</strong> Years that amortize a heat pumps</li>
          </ul>
          </li>
        </ul>
        </li>
        <li>Mobility
        <ul>
          <li><strong>ID41</strong> Average kilometers traveled a typical day</li>
          <li><strong>ID51</strong> Usual travel option</li>
          <li><strong>ID264</strong> Affordable cost of a diesel or gasoline mid-range brand new car</li>
          <li><strong>ID265</strong> Affordable cost of a mid-range brand new electric car</li>
          <li><strong>ID281</strong> Willingness to buy an electric car
          <ul>
            <li><strong>ID289</strong> Why no?</li>
            <li><strong>ID290</strong> Affordable price of an electric car</li>
            <li><strong>ID291</strong> Years that amortize an electric car</li>
          </ul>
          </li>
        </ul>
        </li>
      </ul>
      </li>
      <li><strong>Section 5 - Household characterization</strong>
      <ul>
        <li><strong>ID127</strong> Selecting an asked value</li>
        <li><strong>ID189</strong> Type of living area</li>
        <li><strong>ID202</strong> Gender