Price increase, together with the already present lack of qualified workforce and the increasingly likely rise of its prices, ultimately leads to an increase in the price of residential real estate. Despite this, consumer interest in apartments does not decrease, and demand is still higher than supply, as confirmed by market experts. However, despite the mentioned problems being common to all real estate investors, the new situation does not equally affect all of them, simply because their projects are not at the same stages of realization. This is confirmed by the example of investors from Split. - The current situation is strange and hard to explain - Denis Pulić, sales manager at the company "Quatro Company," said to Slobodna Dalmacija, explaining why the company, after a several-month wait caused by the slow pace of the state administration in Duilov, will soon start building the object "Bel Etage 2" (Beautiful Floor 2). - For every hundred apartments in the object "Bel Etage 2," buyers have signed reservations and paid a deposit. At this point, construction has increased by 15 to 20 percent and we do not know how the situation will develop further, there are no signs that prices and the supply of building materials will stabilize. One of the possible solutions might be to split the newly formed expense with the buyers - Pulić mentions one of the possible ways out of the unfavorable situation. In contrast to "Bel Etage 2," another project by the company "Quatro Company," called "Rašeljkina" (a possibly name referencing a plant species, or a place, or a name of a person), has not yet started receiving reservations and the construction cost will be calculated before the start of construction, and the residential prices of the apartments will be adjusted accordingly. According to Pulić, consumer interest in apartments is still great. - The situation is so unstable that we've broken all the financial plans we had for construction costs and had to stop selling apartments in the object in Visoka - Tonći Muše, owner of the company HOCH BAU, told us. - Given the fact that, in addition to all the price increases, there is inevitable inflation, and no one knows what will happen in six to eight months, we decided to sell the remaining apartments when the object is completed and handed over, and the planned completion date is May 2022 - Muše said, reminding us that construction workers at the scene increase prices when materials become more expensive by over 10 percent, to which they have a right, especially since staklo (glass) has increased by 95 percent, knauf (construction material) by 40 percent. The price of a residential square meter in the object in Visoka was 3,000 euros. The new price will be determined, and they are still looking for buyers. - I would have liked current prices for construction and residential apartments to be stable. Now, I'm not sure where I am - Muše said sincerely. Our other interlocutors emphasize that they are waiting for further developments in the market, but one of them warned us about an additional complicating factor in Split: the work of the department for issuing permits. - When new projects are involved, people start talking about prices, and how will you start selling when you do not know when you will begin to build - our interlocutor, who wished to remain anonymous, revolted. - As they are functioning in the Banovina, no one will get permits - directly, and because of their recent colleagues who were arrested by USKOK (Croatian authorities) for a crime they are now accused of, they are nervous, and USKOK officials are "cheesing" their files. - They do not want to issue a utility permit, even when there is a valid building permit - our interlocutor vividly described his view of the work of the department in Banovina. According to Bore Vujović, director of the agency "Opereta" and vice-president of the Association of Business Enterprises in Real Estate, the increase in construction material prices has already been incorporated into the current prices of residential real estate; however, these prices have been rising individually, from location to location and from region to region because each location and region has different situations. - Although we do not have a complete analysis, in comparison to the same period last year, prices have risen by an average of 10 percent - Vujović said. Vujović warns that, at the same time, the prices of used apartments are rising. The construction of new apartments involves more expensive construction materials, and the cost of labor is rising, which are objective reasons for the rising prices of apartments. Even without these reasons, he estimates that the price of used apartments is increasing, and this is due to the lack of new construction. This is true for the entire Croatian market. It is worth noting that rented apartments typically involve additional costs for adaptation. Despite everything, they are being sold. - Under pressure from inflation, today the one who has money, savings, wants to turn it into real estate because they fear losing its value - Vujović said, citing the example of Zagreb, where people are buying apartments despite prices reaching 5,000 euros per residential square meter, because there are people who can afford it and want to own an apartment in that location. It is difficult to predict how the situation will develop. - Who could have predicted the corona pandemic, whose effect was a predicted crash of the real estate market, which never happened - Vujović reminded us. - A lot of money has been invested in the system, the interest rates on mortgage loans have decreased, their future rise will not have a drastic effect, we are adopting the euro, we are entering the Schengen area, everything is opening a new market. Therefore, there is no forecast for the near future - Vujović concluded. Source: SEEbiz / Slobodna Dalmacija

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