European Union property prices dip 1.4%

Property prices across the whole continent dipped 1.4 per cent in the past year, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

But that average hid large variations in prices between nations.

The tiny Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia boasting house price growth of 7.7 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively between the first quarters of 2012 and 2013.

Elsewhere Luxembourg and Sweden also performed well, with prices up 4.3 and 4.1 per cent respectively.

But at the other end of the spectrum, Spain saw prices crumble in the first three months of the year compared to the same period in 2012, with property values down a whopping 12.8 per cent.

Hungary, Portugal and Holland all also saw house values sapped, with prices falling 9.3, 7.3 and 7.2 per cent respectively.

The UK posted gains with values up 2.2 per cent according to the Eurostat data. This made it ninth out of 29 countries - the 27 EU members plus Iceland and Norway.