CEPI - European Association of Real Estate Professions

According to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, house prices rose by 4.0% in the euro area and by 4.5% in the EU in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2016, house prices rose by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.7% in the EU in the first quarter of 2017.

The first Estonian presidency of the Council of the EU started on 1 July 2017 when it took over the rotating six month presidency from Malta. This is the first part of a “trio” presidency extending over eighteen months which also includes Bulgaria and Austria.

Today CEPI publishes its position on the services package “A services economy that works for Europeans” which was published by the European Commission on 10 January 2017. This package includes legislative and non-legislative initiatives which are of particular interest to the real estate sector. These measures are legislative proposals on the services e-card, proportionality test and services notification procedures, together with a non-legislative communication on reform recommendations for regulation in professional services.

On 16 May the European Commission organised a workshop in Brussels about the first year of operation of the EPC and alert mechanism. Representatives from the five professions currently able to apply for the EPC and competent authorities from different countries debated progress to date, the challenges to be addressed and how the operation of the EPC can be improved.

According to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, house prices rose by 4.1% in the euro area and by 4.7% in the EU in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared with the same quarter of the previous year. Compared with the third quarter of 2016, house prices rose by 0.8% in both zones in the fourth quarter of 2016.