(Bloomberg) -- Gains in euro-area housing prices slowed for the first in two years as the war in Ukraine dented confidence and quickening inflation pushed the European Central Bank to abandon ultra-loose policies. 

Prices rose 9.3% from a year ago in the second quarter, down from 9.8% in the previous three months, Eurostat said in a statement on Friday. Growth also cooled in the broader European Union, with the smallest gains recorded in Cyprus, Finland and Denmark. 

After housing markets remained buoyant during the Covid-19 pandemic, rising borrowing costs and a spike in living costs are now threatening demand. Factors including a greater desire for bigger properties that allow work from home may however offer some support, ECB researchers said last month. 

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