The share of young people living with their parents increased year-on-year to 23 percent

Prague – The share of people under 26 living with their parents in the Czech Republic increased year-on-year by eight percentage points to 23 percent. Due to the coronavirus crisis, the number of people who fear they will not be able to afford their own housing has also increased. Last year, it was 62 percent; at the beginning of September this year, the share rose to 77 percent. This is according to the results of a survey conducted by Generali Investments, which has been made available to ČTK. The agency Ipsos surveyed 1,050 respondents aged 18 to 65.

Due to the measures against the coronavirus, the share of people who prefer rental housing has slightly increased by two percentage points to ten percent. The same applies to the proportion of people who have trouble paying rent.

Overall, six out of ten Czechs are concerned that the current situation has worsened their chances of affording their own housing. The fear of not being able to purchase or renovate a property is felt by as many as 77 percent of people.

"Housing prices have been steadily rising for several years, and the coronavirus crisis has not changed that. On the contrary, the pandemic represented a significant blow to many people's savings or income, leading some to give up the idea of buying their own property. The market is responding to this. There is a continuing trend of building projects intended not for sale, but purely for rental housing,” stated Marek Bečička from Generali Investments. For example, the selling prices of new apartments in Prague, according to data from the developers Trigema, Skanska Reality, and Central Group, have risen by 113 percent over the past six years to 118,480 crowns per square meter.

While in 2020, 12 percent of Czechs stated they were willing to live in a smaller apartment due to the pandemic, this year only eight percent of respondents would willingly move to a smaller place. In contrast, the number of people willing to live in a less desirable location has increased from three to four percent. More than a third would be willing to commute from another city, compared to only 21 percent in 2020.