CRO Property expensive

[boris]

According to CRO media, Global Property Guide (www.globalpropertyguide.com) claims that CRO property is one of the most expensive in Europe. Could not find the article on the Global website, but maybe someone could help here?

[prkbrk]

Seems to be the case in general - no movement downward according to my real estate buddy. Not surprisingly there is a lot of property for sale but few buyers - but nothing new there in HR as folk will sit tight to get the price they expect!

[mambo]

Well....................tell me something new.
I think I have been saying this for the last few years already, only received a lot of 'unfriendly remarks' from................mostly real estate agents.

The value of a property in Croatia should NEVER be compared to the value of a property in another country.
Too many people in Croatia say: 'Look at the prices in England, France, Spain etc and that is why the price in Croatia will go up as well'.
Spain in not Croatia, Croatia is not Spain and Croatia is also not England or Holland.

The price of a property is not something which is unlimited, the current credit crisis proved that once and for all.

There are simple economic rules to the prices of property and once we start losing track of those rules we get into situations where houses become overpriced, bubbles are created and eventually lots of people loose a lot of money. It then also becomes a short term market and not a stable long term market.
Croatia can only benefit from a long term stable property market and all those gold digging real estate agents (both domestic and specifically foreign) should get their feet back on the ground again. No more fortunes to be made on a simple house, just a normal, standard fee, in other words...........time to really start working for your money and not rip some buyer off because you have the opportunity.

[irac]

Reputable developers (ie proper firms or ones not solely interested in laundering money) have steered well cear of Croatia, this especially went for serious tourist resort developers. The bubble in Croatia burst in 2007 and when the media went quiet last year on "foreigners" buying up the coast and it was left to the "russians" supposedly spending oodles of non-existent cash. The biggest gip was the "israelis" via Hungary buying up large parts of the country, which was started by HSP (a certain saborski zastupnik) in a tv interview on HTV1.

Overall property, from my own experience, is at least 20-50% overpriced in most areas and only in 2 cases have I ever seen property sell for below or near the realistic price. Dealing with ignorant owners and small-time developers was bad enough, spending money on bringing in property valuers to work with the company alongside local professionals was a waste of time. it's no good when only a fraction of the sellers actually took on board the advice. The Croatian property marlet won't receover for at least 6 years!

[boris]

Anticipated Croatian Property Boom Fails to Materialize (from Deutche Welle)

Germans are the biggest buyers of holiday homes on the Adriatic coast.Potential buyers looking at properties in Croatia now have less red tape to wade through. But the financial crisis has dented their pocketbooks. And while demand is slacking, prices still haven't fallen.

Croatia opened its property market, most notably its stunning Adriatic coast, to buyers from the European Union in February, but real estate agents expect no immediate boom of German, Austrian or British interest due to the world financial crisis.

Under the terms agreed in pre-accession talks with the EU, Croatia now allows foreigners to buy lots and homes under the same terms as its own nationals.

Although the change is "not revolutionary," as one agent described it, it does ease the enormous amount of red tape a foreigner had to previously wade through to purchase a home in Croatia.

Fewer hassles for foreign buyers


"With fewer documents required under the new rules ... and lighter administration, we projected a five-percent growth of the market," said the head of the national property traders' organization, Dubravko Ranilovic.

"These expectations however need to be revised downwards due to the recession," said Ranilovic, estimating that the turnover could increase just before the summer season begins, but not in the medium term.

The forecast is in stark contradiction of widespread fear among Croats, who were worried that foreign buyers would literally snap up all the best properties on their 1,100-kilometer Adriatic coast.

Germans top list of foreign buyers

As of January, only 11,517 foreign citizens or firms owned property in Croatia. The list was led by 5,149 Germans, and then followed by 3,131 Slovenians, 2,187 Austrians and 1,358 Hungarians.

The figures were several times smaller than what the Croatian media had estimated.

"There is no danger of a sellout," property agent Jasminka Biliskov recently told the Jutarnji List news site.

The market has been "less than lively," while "the few rich buyers are like a drop in the sea."

After all, foreigners could buy land before, if they were from countries allowing Croats to do the same, or under elaborate, but possible, legal schemes involving foreign-owned brass-plate firms.

Demand down, but not property prices

"Those who wanted to buy, they did. Now that strong markets -- British, Austrian and German -- are in recession, I expect neither increased demand, nor higher prices," Biliskov said.

In spite of the lack of demand, prices remain unchanged -- from 3,650 euros per square meter for a flat in the top-resort Dubrovnik in the south, to 1,750 in Pula on the northern end of the coast.

So, unless Croats resign themselves to lowering their asking price or until foreigners start dreaming of vacation and retirement homes instead of worrying, there will be little turnover on the eastern shore of the Adriatic.

"Even those who were willing to invest in Croatian property are now going to wait and see where prices will go," said Vlatko Mrvoc, owner of a property firm on the Istrian Peninsula.

[irac]

One of the best articles on property in Croatia I've ever seen, and obviously from the point of view of someone being stung! The briliant part is:
As of January, only 11,517 foreign citizens or firms owned property in Croatia. The list was led by 5,149 Germans, and then followed by 3,131 Slovenians, 2,187 Austrians and 1,358 Hungarians.

Which is exactly what anyone with a brain has been saying for years, but of course the russians, germans, english, jamaicans are buying everything in sight! And when you remove croatian ex-pats, croatian companies registered abroad and foreign tour companies, the number is tiny - it's no wonder that there are so few actual real estate agents in the country!

[Madgolfer]

We wrote to all of our clients back in Oct 2008 warning them of the pending downturn and potential lack of foreign investors in 2009.

To date our suggestion that sellers consider offering a price reduction to stimulate interest has met with a fairly negative response. Only 5 clients out of 89 have offered a price reduction for 2009, while some others are "prepared to negotiate" but will not cut the advertised price.

OK the inland property market does not closely resemble that of the coastal region, but even so, there is obviously very little understanding of what is happening outside Croatia.

[Madgolfer]

mambo wrote;

"all those gold digging real estate agents (both domestic and specifically foreign) should get their feet back on the ground again."

I think the capping of fees and charges as prescribed in the new real estate laws will put paid to many of those Mambo.

[ray51]

We had a look at a few properties , last September ;
a quick check now reveals that not one of them got sold since ;
they were mostly in inland Croatia : around Zagreb , west and north ;
incredible fables were spun , about wealthy Russians , Brits , Germans and others , paying any astronomical prices , for houses in Istria , Opatija , on Hvar , Brac etc...
As it happens , we were in Germany last week and pleasantly surprised to learn that 150-200K Euros buys quite a bit of a home , in good area of Baden-Wuerttemberg , Hessen , Saarland etc...
which might lead me conclusion that maybe there won't be all that many German buyers queueing up for HR-properties , save maybe for a few returning GastArbeiters ?

[Madgolfer]

Next time your over this way Ray, "head east my boy!"

[marie]

Somebody mentioned once (Sasha?) that property in NW Croatia is very cheap, from 10,000 Euros up!

[gmh]

10 000 euro will buy you a vikendica
small shack/house in semi rural setting

my punica recently bought about 4 acres with 140 m2 2 story old oak house with large barn and lots of walnut and apple trees for 25 000 euro in Moslovina

[JudeC]

"As of January, only 11,517 foreign citizens or firms owned property in Croatia. The list was led by 5,149 Germans, and then followed by 3,131 Slovenians, 2,187 Austrians and 1,358 Hungarians."
Anyone notice these figures are already over 11,517???

[Ribaric]

Well spotted, there must be about minus 250 Brits here I guess to balance it all up.

[zoran]

The true is that the a properties are expensive, but the real problem is average properties that are overpriced.
I think that the prices will go down even now you can get 10-20 % discount if you are persistent.The builders still have some cash but before the season they will reduce the prices.