Prices of New Housing on the Rise Again

Ljubljana, 29 July (STA) - Prices of new built housing increased by 1.6%

in the second quarter of the year, the second consecutive quarterly

increase after a long period of decline, the Statistical Office said on

Thursday.

Even though this is the second consecutive quarterly increase, prices

are still 15% lower than in Q2 2008, when they were at their peak, but they

have returned to the level of a year ago.

Companies reporting to the

Statistical Office have sold 272 new housing units in Q2. However, the

number is still low compared to the average quarterly turnover in 2007,

when the figure reached 366.

Over a third of all new housing units

(98) were sold in central Slovenia (44 in Ljubljana alone), followed by

Podravje in the northeast (55) and the northern region of Gorenjsko

(36).