Post by Anna on Apr 8, 2005 18:20:23 GMT 1
One of the UK's highest-circulation daily newspapers, the Daily Mail, today devoted a full page to an article on the Croatian property market.
Under the sub-heading "Croatia's gold rush may be over, but prices are still affordable on its unspoilt coast", the reporter Nigel Lewis mentions that a potential buyer should have at least £65,000 to spend.
He says that Croatia is Eastern Europe's gem, that it has a beautiful coastline with secluded beaches and more than a thousand small islands as well as an unspoilt interior.
Mr Lewis mentions that brand-new developments are as good, if not better, than comparable examples in Spain, but that prices are lower in Croatia. One such example is the Olive Island Resort on the island of Ugljan, just off Zadar. The first phase was finished in November 2004, and apartment prices have already appreciated by 15% since then. The whole project is to be completed at the end of 2006, and apartment prices start at £90,000 and go to £162,300.
According to the newspaper, Dubrovnik has become very expensive [of course!] with prices for decent apartments starting at £140,000. However, Croatia is still considered to be a good investment. Kieran Kelleher, of Dream Property Croatia, says: "Despite recent price rises, the market is still in its early stages. Values are being kept low by several factors."
These factors include difficulty in obtaining mortgages in the country (this is to change soon), and an incomplete infrastructure (although this is also changing - the motorway between Zagreb to Split is complete, whilst work on the section to Dubrovnik has just started).
A side story on an early investor from the UK, Rowan Carstairs, describes how he bought four plots of land, and apartment in Dubrovnik and a 5-bed villa in Mlini. He says that one of the first apartments he bought in early 2003 for £60,300 is now being sold for £105,000.
According to Mr Carstairs, Croatia is the easiest and safest place to buy in Eastern Europe, particularly compared with Bulgaria. But he warns "There are plenty of spivs out there who say they have property to sell when they haven't."
In another sidestory, under the heading "Beware of red tape", the newspaper goes through some possible problems with buying in Croatia. The greatest one concerns the issue of title deeds - very often, Croat families passed down property ownership through the generations without properly registering.
[Also to mention: some properties were built/added to without planning permission, and the government is cracking down on these. In most cases, these properties will need to be demolished. This year, this has occurred in Istria where, so far, 34 houses were pulled down.]