200,000 empty apartments in Croatia

Real estate traffic is slowing down, owners of used real estate have unrealistically high expectations, and the state housing policy, although there are 200,000 empty apartments in the state, has not yet been completed because of missing data from the population census, it was said at the HGK Real Estate Business Forum.

The president of the Real Estate Business Association, Dubravko Ranilović, says that real estate transactions are slowing down and that trends are changing. "The slowdown means a decrease in the number of transactions. For comparison, in the first half of this year compared to the first half of last year, the decrease in traffic is nine percent," said Ranilović, adding that the decrease is not the same in all counties.

He also emphasized that real estate prices are still rising, but at a lower rate than before. He said that the growth of real estate prices is slowing down compared to last year when the growth was in double digits.

He pointed out that the prices stated in the ads and the requested prices are not the realized prices, which are significantly lower. According to him, you should look at the realized, not the requested, prices, and the difference between the requested and realized prices is on average about 15 percent. Ranilović believes that the rise in interest rates in EU countries has also affected our market. He also claims that the local market is polarized, but that there is still great interest from buyers in new construction. He also said that the interest of foreigners in buying real estate in Croatia has decreased.

Zaher: Other channels are opening for investing excess money

Josip Zaher, adviser to the president of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Trade, said that in the last two or three years, a lot of construction has been going on in our country - both infrastructure and residential real estate.

This past period, he explained, was maintained by low interest rates and the flight of investments into the residential part, i.e. residential real estate. Namely, at the end of last year, under the pressure of changing the kuna to the euro, there was a surplus of kuna, which many tried to invest in real estate.

"Today, the situation is completely reversed on the scene, banks have started under pressure from central banks, both Croatian and EU, to raise interest rates and there is a drop in interest, since real estate is no longer so suitable as investment capital," emphasized Zaher. He added that capital prices are rising and that Croatia has opened some other channels where it is possible to invest surplus money such as bonds.

"Due to the shortage of good new real estate in the city of Zagreb and Adriatic Croatia, real estate continues to hold its price. However, there is a slowdown in both volume and prices. We believe that in the future construction in the cities will be potent and will satisfy the market," Zaher concluded.

Uhlir: There are 200,000 empty apartments in Croatia

Speaking about the housing policy of the Republic of Croatia, State Secretary in the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and State Property Željko Uhlir pointed out that the state's housing policy should have been made much earlier, but also that now is the time to make a decision and start that job.

"We have been working on this project for months, we have collected a lot of data, a lot of ideas. The housing policy is a unique strategic act and it has several of its own measures that shape the housing policy of each state. There are four basic measures, one is tax policy, the other is financial , the third is land and the fourth is environmental and energy," the state secretary emphasized.

He also stated that it is still not known which measures will be dominant, that is, represented. "For example, taxes can be repressive or stimulating, we need to program all that and propose it to the government, and it is up to it to decide," said Uhlir.

There are about 200,000 empty apartments in Croatia, he pointed out, adding that this is a fact that we cannot hide from.

"Something has to be done with that," Uhlir believes. He explained that putting these properties into operation can be done either in an encouraging way, as the Austrians do, to offer favorable loans to those who want to arrange their residential property and place it on the market and exempt them from some taxes, but also repressive through estate taxes.

He also said that the state's housing policy cannot be completed, because his ministry and all the institutions that need it still do not have all the results of the 2021 population census.

Lana Mihaljinac Knežević, president of the professional group of real estate brokers of the Zagreb Chamber of Commerce and Industry, believes that inflation has impoverished citizens, but also that the owners of used real estate have raised their expectations a lot in the last few years. Regarding foreigners who buy real estate in Croatia, she said that the majority are Germans. He does not expect real estate prices to fall too much, and he expects owners of used residential real estate to revise their expectations, reports index.hr

Tržište nekretnine, 30. Nov. 2023.