Europe's hottest property markets: Where have house prices risen the most?

House price trends across Europe have varied considerably since the 1990s. 

Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows a very mixed picture, with property values in some countries soaring by nearly 180% compared to 1996. 

In others, prices have stagnated and even declined, at times. 

“A fundamental undersupply of housing to meet the needs of a growing and changing population across Europe has driven strong house price growth in many parts of the continent over the past decade," Nick Whitten, EMEA Head of Living Research at JLL, told Euronews. 

Still, this is not the case everywhere. 

Sweden -- long one of Europe's hottest housing markets -- shows the largest increase, with average prices skyrocketing 176% between 2021 and 1996. 

Joakim Lusensky, Head of Analysis and Communications at the Swedish Association of Real Estate Agents, told Euronews the property market has been fuelled by "a strong and steady growth in population and disposable incomes and a long period of very low mortgage rates."

Compounding things, he says, the production of houses has been quite low, "even though a fairly large part of the population is in the age group where starting a family is most common." 

Combined these factors have caused prices to spike. 

In January, experts warned a property market crash was looming in Sweden, with some predicting a 20% downturn in prices, as the country raises interest rates and grapples with high household debt.

The United Kingdom is second on the list. 

There, average property prices have grown at a breakneck 145% between 1996 and 2021. 

"The clear reason [behind this] is that homeowners began to outnumber those who rent... there was a lack of available social housing... so people had