A smaller number of transactions than in the second half of last year, but the correction of property prices is unlikely to come soon

Croatian property market starts to slow down! Square prices are still rising, but the number of transactions has decreased, compared to the second half of last year, confirmed Lider in three real estate brokerage agencies. The slowing down of demand has been noticed by **Dubravko Ranilović**, a member of Kastel Nekretnine agency's management and the chairman of the Real Estate Business Association at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce. Changes are occurring, fewer properties are being sold, but that still means anything, emphasizes Ranilović, who does not want to go that far and say that the first change in the long-term trend of rising prices represents the beginning of a drop in square prices or any catastrophic events on the market or even a crisis that would remind us of the one from 2010. - The significant interest in new construction properties remains, due to the simple reason that the number of such properties on the market is limited, and the number of people with money to invest remains constant. Our citizens are standardly conservative when it comes to investments and are the safest when investing in real estate, and we shouldn't expect any significant changes there. The problem is the prices of old construction properties, and it's a bubble because a part of the investors is not willing to pay the desired prices for apartments in old buildings, so they delay buying, and sellers delay selling until someone is willing to pay their price - said Ranilović, who is not expecting the square prices, especially in Zagreb and along the coast, to fall anytime soon.

The same trends have been noticed by **Boro Vujović**, owner and director of Opereta real estate. - There are fewer transactions, fewer sales, but square prices continue to rise, which is a strong indicator - says Vujović, emphasizing the same thing as Ranilović - this does not mean that a crisis like the one ten years ago is coming. - There is no crisis yet, at least not in our industry, and I don't think we should expect any significant price drops on the property market. Maybe there will be a correction of square prices, but it won't be a crash like the one seven or eight years ago - said Vujović.

Residential property sales do not decrease

**Sergio Serdarušić** , owner and director of the Eurovilla agency, which specializes in the sale of mainly luxury properties, points out that there is not even a decrease in the number of transactions on the market he represents. When luxury properties are in question, both in Zagreb and along the coast, properties are bought and sold at the same intensity as in previous months. - We have not recorded any changes in the transaction trend when it comes to luxury properties - said Serdarušić, adding that in Zagreb, expensive new construction and luxury apartments and houses on the most desirable locations in the city are mostly bought by domestic buyers, while only one percent are foreigners, while the situation along the coast is slightly different. - Along the coast, people are still buying their own properties, but also a growing number of buyers from Slovenia, Italy, Austria, and only a new trend we've noticed is the growing interest of Scandinavians in our coastal properties - said Serdarušić. **Patrick Franolić** , executive director of the international company Spiller Farmer specialized in consulting and mediation in the rental of commercial and office spaces, sale of land and property, and consulting investors and developers on complex projects, also points out that there has been a slowdown in the sales of residential properties. Like the other Lider interlocutors, Franolić immediately dismissed the possibility of a crisis like the one a decade ago and emphasized that this is just - a slowing down. - People are not buying as much as they used to - explains the new trends on the market Franolić, whose specialty is actually something different, and there are new trends there too. - The commercial property market is stable; there are three new projects being built in Zagreb and the demand is still strong, just like in previous months and years. The only novelty is the increased demand for office space in old buildings in the city center, which are leased on a one, two, or annual basis, and the main client of this trend, according to Franolić, is the state or public institutions. After the earthquake, the government managed to secure funding for the renovation of damaged buildings through EU funds, and it seems to Franolić based on market impulses that the first to be renovated will be properties owned by the state and state institutions. According to Franolić's opinion, there is no fear that the domestic property market will repeat the 2010 crisis when sales suddenly dropped and hundreds of unsold apartments were left on the market. Currently, very little is being built, he notes, and almost all new construction is sold even before the project is completed, rare are the projects that remain unsold after completion, and even those apartments find buyers quickly. - However, there has been a significant price increase on the market, and although construction costs and raw materials are stabilizing, they will not fall to pre-2010 prices, let alone five or more years ago, considering that prices have skyrocketed, noted Franolić. He also points out that, for example, new shopping centers will no longer be built in Croatia, as the market is saturated, but it will continue to crave new logistical projects. Taken from: Telegram.hr

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