-12.9 on previous index reading
At 97.7 in July 2022, the Housing Pulse was 12.9 lower than in June and down 21.8 on a year ago. Households lowered their expectations for future house price gains this month, albeit more than three in five still think they will increase over the coming year (this compares with three in four last month). Interest rate hiking by the European Central Bank means higher mortgage repayments for some and may have contributed to the slippage in the share of respondents saying it is cheaper to buy a property than rent in the July survey (68% versus 76% in April).