Croatia Travel Blog

Archive for the ‘Croatia Property’ Category

So you’ve been to Istria and you want to set up house there? The Financial Times has a highly informative article covering all aspects of buying a house or apartment in Istria whether for a residence or a rental property. From feuding families to bureaucratic hurdles the buyers profiled in this article managed to overcome it all to build their dream houses.  Unlike the fevered buyers that swept down from the UK a few years ago, today’s buyers are more likely to be Italians and Slovenians than Brits.  Russians are also entering the picture even though non-EU citizens must obtain government approval of a property purchase. It’s true that the property market in Croatia has cooled down this past year but Istria remains a good investment as well as an extraordinarily good place to live.

Go to article.

Read more about buying property in Croatia or about Istria.

As the Washington Post recently reported, the Croatian economy is facing dire problems. Once the summer tourist season ends, “Croatia’s unemployment will rise and living standards deteriorate”. The unemployment rate which currently stands at 14% will rise to God-knows-what level while labor unions are gunning up for massive demonstrations in September.

Is that a reason to put the family jewels on sale? The Croatian government apparently thinks so. Rumors are that the Brijuni Islands, a Croatian National Park in Istria and former hideaway of late Prez Tito, are on the block.  Do you have an extra billion or so euros? These delightful islands could be yours.  Actually, the price is a bargain; a couple of years ago the asking price hovered around two billion euros but the property market in Croatia has gone into a serious decline. As the New York Times just reported, prices have fallen 20 to 25% this last year and most real estate professionals expect prices to fall even further.

Under those circumstances, raking in a billion or so euros for the Brijuni Islands is probably not a bad idea. Unlike other Croatian islands, there’s no regular ferry service to the islands as hardly anyone lives there. Although of great historical and even archaeological interest (traces of Roman settlements and dinosaur footprints) the islands have not been a great performer on Croatia’s tourism scene. It could be a prestige location but the hotels need serious work and private accommodation is non-existent. A deep-pocket investor could turn a nice profit.

As of this month, the government has made it MUCH easier for foreigners, especially EU citizens, to buy property in Croatia. Now foreigners can buy under the same terms as Croatian citizens, which is to say, with much less red tape.

The change was made in response to EU regulations as Croatia is up for ascension next year.  It certainly was not as a result of public clamour for more foreigners owning land.

Contrary to dire fears among Croatians, that their choicest bits of real estate will slip under foreign control, it looks as though the economic crisis means that fewer foreigners than expected will be snapping up property. Consider the prices: 3,650 euros per square metre of a flat in Dubrovnik and  1,750 euros for the same  in Pula! Croatian real estate professionals had expected that loosening regulations would lead to a whopping 5% increase in sales but now even that estimate is being revised downward.

As it turns out, Germans are the biggest foreign owners of Croatian property. Figures show that as of January, only 11,517 foreign citizens or firms owned property in Croatia. The list was led by 5,149 Germans, and then followed by 3,131 Slovenians, 2,187 Austrians and 1,358 Hungarians.

The figures were several times smaller than what the Croatian media had estimated.

Find out more about buying property in Croatia.

Sipan (pronounced shee pan) Who would have thought? Today’s Telegraph highlights Sipan (one of the Elaphiti Islands) as part of an article discussing property in Croatia. With properties in Dubrovnik selling for a mind-boggling £9,500, sun-starved Londoners are looking for something a little more, uh, affordable, like buying on one of Croatia’s less travelled islands. Read the rest of this entry »

Buying property in Dalmatia has become an international obssession and the prices are starting to show it according to a recent issue of Split-based  Slobodna Dalmacija. For the most sought-after properties you’ll pay up to 5000EUR a square meter. That’s high! What is the most-sought after property? Being close to the sea is one factor that can drive up prices but those adorable old fishermen cottages on remote islands  are also selling at a premium.

     Also interesting is how certain nationalities congegate in certain places. The English like Trogir, the Estonians gravitate to Split and the Slovenes migrate to Split’s offshore island of Solta. Russians and Italians are also rummaging around for  their own Dalmatian piece of paradise. Where will it all end? Go to article.  See tips on buying property in Croatia.