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Post by Madgolfer on Aug 9, 2009 15:58:32 GMT 1
Driving around our local town of Vrbovec near Zagreb, it is amazing just how many new buildings are still under construction given the current economic climate. Some new projects being started just this week.
Assuming that planning issues and financing on these projects was obtained at the start of this year, if not late last year, and these developers are committed to starting work for some reason, can they not see what is coming?
There are new apartment blocks and shopping centres going up based on the expanded urban plan and many of these people are perhaps being very shortsighted.
Having seen prices around this way continue to rise over the last 18 months, regardless of what has been happening in the rest of Europe, it would appear to us that the "bubble" will soon burst.
Assuming that the Banks have convinced the borrowers to take out their loans in Euros, as most of them prefer you to, I do wonder what will happen over the course of the next couple of months if and when the kuna is devalued?
Many pundits are convinced that Croatia will have to approach the IMF, regardless of what the politicians say, and the most likely first order of business will be that the kuna must be devalued.
It has all the markings of the "blind-leading-the blind" so to speak.
Oh well, just as Croatia starts to grapple with the full meaning of the word "recession" the rest of Europe is hopefully starting to pull out of the decline.
Potentially a dismal and sad year ahead for many Croatians and some lucrative pickings for foreign investors.
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Post by Ribaric on Aug 9, 2009 19:45:17 GMT 1
If the kuna is devalued, there will be many buzzards circling and on the look out for cheap property. I'm waxing my wings in preparation. I'm looking for 11-12 Kunas to the UKP, at which point the flood gates will open.
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Post by mrhappy on Aug 9, 2009 20:46:18 GMT 1
Potentially a dismal and sad year ahead for many Croatians and some lucrative pickings for foreign investors. And foreign estate agents
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Post by Madgolfer on Aug 11, 2009 20:24:48 GMT 1
"And foreign estate agents "
Perhaps more so for those who charge a percentage rate, for those of us who work on a fixed fee basis it makes very little difference, other than by the increased quantity of sales.
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Post by ray51 on Aug 12, 2009 8:12:00 GMT 1
Who all do you expect these yet-to-come foreign buyers might be , especially in the areas north and east of Zagreb ? ( From what I gather of lately , even despite huge price-collapses in Spain , there are only very few areas in Europe now attracting more foreign buyers , namely : SW and W France , Belgium and , for a certain ever-growing group of Brit-expats : Hungary !!! )
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Post by Madgolfer on Aug 12, 2009 11:37:57 GMT 1
While I'm not in the business of providing my competition with all the answers Ray, there are still plenty of investors out there, you just need to know how to find them and then to deal with them properly when you do. Knowing how to market your business, and I include "Croatia" in the term business, should be clear to all business managers and owners, unfortunately very few have any idea how to do it correctly. In a recession the survival of the fitest is a very apt phrase. Those who expect new business to just walk in the door, perhaps as it has done for the past few years, will simply go out of buisness. Croatia, especially the regions you mention, do in fact appeal to many foreign investors, you just have to know which ones and then attract them! Its just basic business management and marketing.
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Post by ray51 on Aug 12, 2009 17:25:03 GMT 1
there are still plenty of investors out there, you just need to know how to find them and then to deal with them properly when you do. Croatia, especially the regions you mention, do in fact appeal to many foreign investors, you just have to know which ones and then attract them! Its just basic business management and marketing. O.K. , point taken ! - so then : as an "investment" , what might you offer (please : feel free to p.m. in detail ) , bearing in view the annual after-taxes'yield in EUros ?
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Post by Madgolfer on Aug 13, 2009 7:34:45 GMT 1
Hi Ray, Not one to miss an opportunity, you could always visit our web site ;D www.inlandcroatia.comI will pm you as well. K.
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Post by Aleksandra on Aug 13, 2009 22:49:58 GMT 1
If the kuna is devalued, there will be many buzzards circling and on the look out for cheap property. I'm waxing my wings in preparation. I'm looking for 11-12 Kunas to the UKP, at which point the flood gates will open. Interesting.. if the kuna is devalued, do you really expect property prices to go down? Asking prices are all in Euros. Do you really believe that the seller will say... Kuna is devalued 10% (for example), so instead of asking EUR 100,000 I will ask EUR 90,000? I have to admit I am doubtful about this!
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Post by Ribaric on Aug 14, 2009 9:07:59 GMT 1
That's a good point Alexandra. My idea is that property buyers will have the value in kuna in their own mind and convert the Euro asking prices into kuna in order to see the "real" value.
Most pieces of property have been for sale for a long time and, because prices are quoted in Euros, anything priced at 200,000 Kuna yesterday will cost 240,000 tomorrow if the kuna is devalued 20%. An already turgid property market will become absolutely moribund unless property prices are reduced.
Also, from a circling buzzard's point of view, devaluation will cause significant hardship to kuna earners and will raise the pressure to sell bits of inherited land which have hitherto been left untended whilst waiting for a foreign mug.
That's the theory anyway. I'm not banking my future on it however.
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Post by Madgolfer on Aug 14, 2009 9:49:25 GMT 1
""""turgid""""""moribund""""" Waxing a bit lyrical there are we not dear chap? You are sounding more and more like a property agent every day! On a more serious note, your points are very valid and while not guaranteed, it seems to me that devaluation will significantly help in "clarifying" those sellers who are genuinely interested or have to sell quickly. Its already started up this way, its a buyers market with out a doubt.
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delta
Full Member
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Post by delta on Aug 31, 2009 10:09:34 GMT 1
I think more real incentive for sellers to lower their prices will come from announced property tax, if it really come to pass.
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Post by Carol on Aug 31, 2009 12:10:30 GMT 1
In my experience sellers think in euros, as do most Croats when buying anything more than their weekly grocery shop. If I am right then if the kuna devalues it would be the first stage of a potentially painful economic adjustment for Croatia. The price of almost everything will suddenly feel a lot higher for normal people and some of them will become keen to raise extra cash to get through it. A subset will be realistic enough to understand that saying they want 100,000 € (say) does not mean that a buyer would give it to them and those ones will adjust their prices down. Others will put their prices up to reflect their increased living costs. so what Madgolfer said (just in a more wordy way!)
It was always a hard job to convince sellers that advertising their property isn't the same activity as selling their property.
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Post by Ribaric on Aug 31, 2009 13:13:16 GMT 1
A new property tax?
Any details?
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delta
Full Member
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Post by delta on Aug 31, 2009 13:41:36 GMT 1
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