HOUSE PRICE INDICES

Notes:

With the release of data for the first quarter of 2026, the following changes are being introduced in the calculation and publication of the house price index.

The data for the period from the first quarter of 2002 to the fourth quarter of 2025 have been revised.

Based on Eurostat’s report on compliance, the revision has been carried out to achieve full compliance with Article 5 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1470 of 17 July 2023.

In accordance with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1182 of 17 June 2025, the reference period for indices (base year) is changed from 2015 = 100 to 2025 = 100.

The quarterly publication of the index and the rate of change in the number and value of house sales begins with the first quarter of 2026.

Data series from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2026 can be downloaded from PC-AXIS databases under the Prices section.

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

Legal basis and notes on methodology

The legal basis for calculating and transmitting data on the house price index is defined in Regulation (EU) 2016/792 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on harmonised indices of consumer prices and the house price index, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95, and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1470 of 17 July 2023 laying down the methodological and technical specifications in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/792 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the house price index and the owner-occupied housing price index, and amending Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/1148. According to the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1470, the coverage of house price index expenditure categories is defined for newly built and existing dwellings as well as for the category of total at the level of the Republic of Croatia. The Croatian Bureau of Statistics has defined additional three geographic areas in order to meet users’ needs – the City of Zagreb, the Adriatic coast and Other. The calculation of house price index is in accordance with the methodological guidelines of Eurostat's "Handbook on Residential Property Price Indices – RPPI".

Coverage

The house price index measures the change in the transactions of dwellings made by households independently of their previous owners and independently of their final use. Transaction prices include the value of land.

The house price index covers all available data on dwelling transactions (houses and flats/apartments) on the territory of the Republic of Croatia, expressed in euro, that are delivered by the Tax Administration of the Ministry of Finance according to predefined deadlines.

The main data source for calculating the weights is the value of dwelling transactions from the previous year. The weights were recalculated on the basis of changes in the prices of dwellings in the last quarter of the previous year.

The indices and rates of change in the number and value of house sales, based on available data provided by the Tax Administration of the Ministry of Finance, include data on transactions of dwellings (flats/apartments, houses and temporary residences) with an area of more than 10 m² purchased by households. The house sales indicators include the categories of new (up to 5 years old) and existing dwellings, as well as the category total at the level of the Republic of Croatia.

Index calculation method

The house price index calculation starts with pre-defined hedonic regression models, whose variables are defined on the basis of available data on dwelling characteristics. Until the end of 2011, the standard time-dummy hedonic regression was used in the calculation of indices, while since the first quarter of 2012, they have been calculated by using the rolling window time-dummy hedonic regression due to the availability of an extended set of dwelling characteristics data. These indices are then aggregated to higher levels and the level of total by using the Laspeyres-type formula.

Abbreviations

EC                          European Community

EU                          European Union

Eurostat                  Statistical Office of the European Union

m²                           square metre