The price of Croatian property - Dec 2009

Property prices along Croatia’s Adriatic coast fell by 4.6% in the 12 months to December 2009, reports CentarNekretnina in their monthly property price report.

The fall is mainly attributed to the reduced buying power of Croatians suffering from the economic fallout, as well as to what is now an over-supply of new build apartments that flooded the market in 2007/2008 when selling prices were at a healthier level. Prices along the Adriatic coast actually started to fall in May 2009, whereas inland, prices were already falling in September 2008, immediately after the global economic crisis started. This delay in price falls along the Adriatic is attributed to the fact that sellers only started reducing their asking prices when it became clear that tourist accommodation early booking levels for the 2009 summer season would be lower than previous years, something that was not apparent to (or acknowledged by) the tourism industry in Croatia until May 2009.

The average apartment asking price on the coast now stands at 1964 EUR per sq. m., which is only 1.0% less than in November of 2009. The equivalent for a larger holiday home is 1552 EUR per sq. m., 1.5% more than November 2009 and 2.3% less than December 2008.

There would appear to be a significant difference in asking prices between properties in the northern Adriatic (Istria and the Kvarner Gulf) and central and southern Adriatic (Dalmatia). For example, the average asking price for an apartment in Split (Dalmatia) in December 2009 was 2418 EUR per sq. m. while the equivalent in Pula (Istria) was 1512 EUR per sq. m.