Photo: belgradewaterfront.comLast year, 50,275 apartments were sold on the territory of Serbia, and the total amount of money invested in the purchase of real estate broke records from all previous years and amounts to 6.1 billion euros. Most apartments were sold in the areas where they were mostly built – in Belgrade and Novi Sad. In the third place, however, according to the number of sold real estates, is not a city, but the municipality of Čajetina. Last year, more apartments were sold on Zlatibor than apartments in any other city in Serbia, not counting the two largest.
While the real estate market is expanding in the largest cities, construction has almost stopped in some cities, and real estate agencies say that no new buildings have been built for decades. Last year, no apartments in new construction were sold in Bor and Kikinda.
Most new apartments were sold in Belgrade and, on the level of municipalities, Savski Venac expectedly leads, where 1,229 apartments were sold, and on which territory is placed the most wanted and expensive neighbourghood, Belgrade Waterfront, while Zemun is in second place with 1,025 apartments, then Voždovac with 957 and New Belgrade with 844.
Among the city municipalities, the least apartments were sold in Rakovica 169 and Čukarica 257. In Palilula, less apartments were also sold than in most other city municipalities, only 308, but the price per square meter increased by as much as 24 percent compared to 2020, which can be attributed to the weaker supply of new buildings. The cheapest square was paid 900, and the most expensive 3,470 euros, while the average price per square meter was 2,020 euros, writes euronews.rs.
The Republic Geodetic Authority also keeps records by cities, of which there are 27 in central Serbia, apart from Belgrade. After the capital, the greatest interest in buying apartments in new buildings was in Novi Sad, where 2,572 apartments were sold. In second place is Niš, with 875 properties of this type, while all other cities are far below the number of apartments sold. Thus, only 461 apartments were registered in Kragujevac. It is followed by Subotica with 471 and Novi Pazar with 435.
In two cities, Bor and Kikinda, no new apartments were sold last year. Weak activity was also recorded in Prokuplje, where nine newly built real estates were sold, which is the number of sold real estates on Savski Venac in three days. In Zaječar, 10 apartments were sold, in Kraljevo and Vršac 35 apartments each, and in Užice 45.
"Bor has practically no new construction for 30 years. It used to be the city that had the most apartments built per capita and there was no need for new construction before, because there was no demand. In the last year, the situation is slowly changing. The price per square meter jumped after many years for purely market reasons. Weak offer of apartments and high demand have raised the price", says Filip Janković from the Fontana agency from Bor.
He states that only old apartments are for sale, because there are no new ones, and that their price is 30 to 50 percent higher compared to the period from two years ago.
"Apartments with smaller number of square meters cost up to 700 and 800 euros per square meter in a better location, even if they are renovated. Three rom apartment cannot achieve that price, but it can be around 500 euros. Since the end of last year, 1,600 people have been employed by Chinese in RTB Bor, which are young and creditworthy people, who are now the main buyers of apartments in Bor. However, there are no construction sites for new apartments, "Janković said.
When it comes to old construction, there was real estate turnover in all 27 cities last year, and in almost all cities more old than new apartments were sold, except in Novi Pazar, Požarevac, Pirot, Loznica and Vranje.
The apartment in the new building, according to the data of the Republic Geodetic Authority, is the cheapest to buy in Prokuplje, where the average square meter costs 565 euros, and the most expensive one was sold in this city last year for 715 euros. In Zaječar, the average price per square meter is 622 euros, in Vranje and Kruševac 690, in Leskovac 705, in Pirot 715, and in Jagodina and Sombor 735 euros.
After Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš, the most expensive average square footage in new construction is in Kragujevac and Zrenjanin, where it costs around 1,050 euros. In all other cities, the average square footage in a new building costs less than 1,000 euros. In Čačak, the average is 945 euros, but the most expensive square sold last year was paid 1,560 euros.
When it comes to old construction, the apartments in Bor are convincingly the most favorable, where the average square meter costs 353 euros, and the prices, according to RGZ data, range from 93 to 605 euros. In Prokuplje, the price per square meter is around 463 euros on average, in Zaječar 467, in Kikinda 485, in Leskovac 530 euros, and in Sombor 540 euros.
According to the data of the Republic Geodetic Authority, Čajetina is among the municipalities in which most construction is taking place. As many as 889 apartments were sold on Zlatibor last year, and 875 in Niš. This mountain surpassed almost all other municipalities in Serbia in the number of built housing units, except the central ones in Belgrade and Novi Sad.
On Zlatibor, all apartments in buildings are listed as business apartments, and people mostly buy them as an investment, for rent.
"Zlatibor is mostly sold and a lot is being built. That center now looks like Žarkovo. It's just hyper construction. The average price per square meter is from 3,000 to 4,000 euros. A lot of cash appears, because banks will not finance the purchase of business apartments." Cash is the most common here, "says appraiser Milić Đoković from the Real Estate Cluster.
According to the RGZ data, most real estate sales in 2021 were realized on the territory of Vojvodina, followed by Šumadija and Western Serbia, the City of Belgrade, and the least on the territory of Southern and Eastern Serbia. However, as before, the most expensive real estate was sold in the City of Belgrade, so the largest amount of money was traded on the territory of the capital. The number of sales in 2021 compared to 2020 in the turnover of apartments increased by 28 percent, while the amount for which apartments were purchased increased by about 43 percent.
Source: euronews.rs
