Eurozone house prices rise in Q2

Eurozone house prices increased at a steady pace in the second quarter,the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday.

Eurostat said that eurozone house prices in the three months through June were up 1.5 percent from the first quarter of this year, and 3.8 percent from a year earlier.

The quarter growth is faster than the 0.3 percent increase in the first quarter.

In the 28-nation EU, house prices accelerated to 1.8 percent quarter-on-quarter, taking the annual growth to 4.4 percent.

Among the member states, the highest annual increases in house prices were seen in the Czech Republic, Ireland and Lithuania, which stood at 13.3 percent, 10.6 percent and 10.2 percent respectively, while prices fell in Italy.