Why Buy a House in Croatia?
Igor Katušić, Monday, 18 November 2013
This article is part of a series of 8 articles about buying property in Croatia. The other articles in the series cover the following topics:
Instead of asking “why” - ask “why not”. Why not spend your vacation or live in a healthy and peaceful environment, while in the same time being in the center of the Old Continent? Why not visit the beaches along the clearest sea of the Europe? Why not travel on the newest and most advanced freeways Europe has to offer?
There are many more “Why-nots” and we’ll go over a few of them. To start, we’ll examine the geographical location of Croatia.
Where is Croatia?
Situated in the center of the Europe but with the direct sea connection with the Mediterranean Sea, Croatia is the land of diversities. From the flat, fertile plains in its northeastern part; over the hills and large, sparsely populated areas covered with woods in the central part; to a warm, Mediterranean climate on its south and southeast – Croatia is something yet to be explored in full.
Independent since 1992, and the full member state of the European Union since July 2013, Croatia’s rich history presents the ultimate challenge even to those who thrive to learn more about it on a professional level. The immense volume of the historical facts, monuments and architecture masterpieces can keep you occupied for decades. On top of that, the natural wonders such as complex underground cave’s systems – still unexplored for the most part; or the cascading lakes of the Plitvice and Krka National Parks and the snowy peaks of the Velebit Mountain, along with the hundreds of miles of a beautiful and clear coastline of the Adriatic Sea - attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year from all over the World.
Now that you know why and where; let’s take this to another level and explore the different regions and real estate market trends for you to make a preliminary choice.
Real Estate Market Trends - General
Same as in every other country, the real estate market in Croatia still has to fully recover from the global crisis which affected it few years ago. That’s the main reason why this is a fertile time to invest in a property in Croatia while the prices are still relatively low. That won’t hold for a longer period of time due to the increase in overall demand - specifically in the state’s capital Zagreb and along its famous coastline, of course.
Analytics show that the market slowly recovers and the markers indicate the increase of the global property prices index in next few years.
But for now, the price index still shows the decrease of the prices as the average price for this year is 4.9 % lower than in 2012. This presents the opportunity to buy a real estate on the Adriatic coast for instance because there is a significant drop in the requested prices in some of the top tourist’s centers at the coastline – by 3.3 %. But, what is the average price for, let’s say, a house on the Adriatic coast?
It’s 1.538 EUR/m2, but that’s the general statistic while the real situation and trends vary depending of the micro location.
Where to Buy in Croatia?
Adriatic Coastline and Islands
This will predominantly depend of what suits your interests mostly. If you would like to spend a vacation along the coastline; then you need to decide whether you would like to buy in some tourist’s center and potentially generate income, or you are more in favor of some isolated real estate on some of more than a thousand islands, spread around the Adriatic Sea, along the entire coastline.
Now the prices range from the 80.000 to 500.000 EUR for a house, and same goes for the apartments. It depends of the micro location, total space, age and other relevant features every real estate has.
Continental Croatia
If you are more interested in a property upstate, you might want to consider the central part of the Croatia. Lika is the name of the region, mostly covered with the dense woods and sparsely inhabitated – only 2 people per square kilometer. This is the area of the higher altitude and thus with more colder weather and climate conditions – perfect for those who enjoy the mountain climbing and cave explorations - for this area is filled with those. In the same time, the average annual amount of the snow fall is the highest in Croatia and allows you to enjoy the winter sports and activities.
Why this would be a good choice for you?
From the house in, let’s say the town of Gračac, to the nearest beach is only a 20 minutes of driving and you can actually buy a house there for less than 10.000 EUR. In addition, you can purchase a large 500.000 m2 building land, with couple of creeks and two or three old stone houses on it, for as low as 0.5 EUR per square meter!
Ultimately, building lots up to 2000 m2 go for 1.000 to 3.500 EUR and it’s quite easy to get hold of all necessary permits and licenses because the local governments are constantly encouraging and supporting the new investments in real estate and population growth.
On the other hand, you might want to buy a large piece of a fertile land in northeastern part of Croatia, known for its great plains. You can purchase a large piece of land, suitable for any form of the agriculture and get the permit to build the residence on it. In average, 10 acres of land can be purchased anywhere from 7.000 to 20.000 EUR, depending of a micro location and the vicinity of some larger city center.
This article is part of a series of 8 articles about buying property in Croatia. The other articles in the series cover the following topics:
Instead of asking “why” - ask “why not”. Why not spend your vacation or live in a healthy and peaceful environment, while in the same time being in the center of the Old Continent? Why not visit the beaches along the clearest sea of the Europe? Why not travel on the newest and most advanced freeways Europe has to offer?
There are many more “Why-nots” and we’ll go over a few of them. To start, we’ll examine the geographical location of Croatia.
Where is Croatia?
Situated in the center of the Europe but with the direct sea connection with the Mediterranean Sea, Croatia is the land of diversities. From the flat, fertile plains in its northeastern part; over the hills and large, sparsely populated areas covered with woods in the central part; to a warm, Mediterranean climate on its south and southeast – Croatia is something yet to be explored in full.
Independent since 1992, and the full member state of the European Union since July 2013, Croatia’s rich history presents the ultimate challenge even to those who thrive to learn more about it on a professional level. The immense volume of the historical facts, monuments and architecture masterpieces can keep you occupied for decades. On top of that, the natural wonders such as complex underground cave’s systems – still unexplored for the most part; or the cascading lakes of the Plitvice and Krka National Parks and the snowy peaks of the Velebit Mountain, along with the hundreds of miles of a beautiful and clear coastline of the Adriatic Sea - attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year from all over the World.
Now that you know why and where; let’s take this to another level and explore the different regions and real estate market trends for you to make a preliminary choice.
Real Estate Market Trends - General
Same as in every other country, the real estate market in Croatia still has to fully recover from the global crisis which affected it few years ago. That’s the main reason why this is a fertile time to invest in a property in Croatia while the prices are still relatively low. That won’t hold for a longer period of time due to the increase in overall demand - specifically in the state’s capital Zagreb and along its famous coastline, of course.
Analytics show that the market slowly recovers and the markers indicate the increase of the global property prices index in next few years.
But for now, the price index still shows the decrease of the prices as the average price for this year is 4.9 % lower than in 2012. This presents the opportunity to buy a real estate on the Adriatic coast for instance because there is a significant drop in the requested prices in some of the top tourist’s centers at the coastline – by 3.3 %. But, what is the average price for, let’s say, a house on the Adriatic coast?
It’s 1.538 EUR/m2, but that’s the general statistic while the real situation and trends vary depending of the micro location.
Where to Buy in Croatia?
Adriatic Coastline and Islands
This will predominantly depend of what suits your interests mostly. If you would like to spend a vacation along the coastline; then you need to decide whether you would like to buy in some tourist’s center and potentially generate income, or you are more in favor of some isolated real estate on some of more than a thousand islands, spread around the Adriatic Sea, along the entire coastline.
Now the prices range from the 80.000 to 500.000 EUR for a house, and same goes for the apartments. It depends of the micro location, total space, age and other relevant features every real estate has.
Continental Croatia
If you are more interested in a property upstate, you might want to consider the central part of the Croatia. Lika is the name of the region, mostly covered with the dense woods and sparsely inhabitated – only 2 people per square kilometer. This is the area of the higher altitude and thus with more colder weather and climate conditions – perfect for those who enjoy the mountain climbing and cave explorations - for this area is filled with those. In the same time, the average annual amount of the snow fall is the highest in Croatia and allows you to enjoy the winter sports and activities.
Why this would be a good choice for you?
From the house in, let’s say the town of Gračac, to the nearest beach is only a 20 minutes of driving and you can actually buy a house there for less than 10.000 EUR. In addition, you can purchase a large 500.000 m2 building land, with couple of creeks and two or three old stone houses on it, for as low as 0.5 EUR per square meter!
Ultimately, building lots up to 2000 m2 go for 1.000 to 3.500 EUR and it’s quite easy to get hold of all necessary permits and licenses because the local governments are constantly encouraging and supporting the new investments in real estate and population growth.
On the other hand, you might want to buy a large piece of a fertile land in northeastern part of Croatia, known for its great plains. You can purchase a large piece of land, suitable for any form of the agriculture and get the permit to build the residence on it. In average, 10 acres of land can be purchased anywhere from 7.000 to 20.000 EUR, depending of a micro location and the vicinity of some larger city center.
All types of property for sale in Croatia by private sellers and estate agents. Find your perfect villa, farm or apartment along the coastline or on one of the more than thousand Croatian islands.
This is the overview of all related expenses once you decide to buy the property in Croatia. The precise information of the costs related to the buying
process and those related to the selling process. Fees, taxes and every single additional expense you’ll have either you are buying or selling the real
estate in Croatia.
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