Faktory ovlivňující dostupnost bydlení pro mladé domácnosti v ČR

The aim of this bachelor’s thesis is to examine how mortgage interest rates and the amount of real state support affect housing affordability for young households in Prague.The focus is on the impact of two specific variables – the level of mortgage interest rates and the amount of real state support – on the ability of young people to attain homeownership. The thesis builds on the growing public interest in this topic, which is evident both in the sharp rise in real estate prices in Prague and in the intense public debate about housing affordability in the media and on the political level. The theoretical part examines the development of the housing market since 1989, the definition of housing affordability, and the factors that influence it – from economic, market, and demographic to institutional. It is followed by a practical analysis using multiple linear regression applied to time series data from 2008 to 2023. The results show that interest rates with a one-year lag have a statistically significant but opposite effect than originally expected – in other words, higher interest rates are associated with greater affordability. State support, on the other hand, shows a negative relationship with affordability, which may be due to the fact that the government tends to intervene only when the situation has already worsened. The main contribution of the thesis lies in the creation of a custom housing affordability index, which better reflects the specifics of young households in Prague. The thesis thus provides a quantitative assessment of selected factors and offers recommendations for further research and reflections on housing policy directions that could better respond to the behaviour and needs of young households.