The newspapers publish articles/analyses which are specifically "
shaped"
to sell the media and maintain, or even increase, its rating. It is still trendy to write that the property prices are falling down by .... you name it.
It has been going on for the past several years that buyers would wake up in December, just before Christmas, and eventually sellers put the prices up in order to make few extra thousands on top. After the new year - prices of the unsold units would go back to the previous levels and thus finish the New Year's cycle.
Let alone the fact that cash buyers hurried to conclude deals before the amendment of the law for bank transfer only when buying property, which surely triggered some short-term price fluctuation.