Photo: PixabayWe used to get rough data on how much our real estate is worth based on the average price from sales contracts in our area. But not every apartment and building is the same. RGZ introduced the apartment price index in accordance with the international methodology and based on the model for the mass assessment of the value of apartments. The head of the RGZ, Ivana Štrbac, notes that the value of an apartment can be calculated with this index, but only for those that have been in circulation since 2016, because the parameters for the calculation originate from that time.
The Republic Geodetic Authority introduced the housing price index for Serbia, which, as they pointed out, enabled citizens and the economy for the first time free, transparent and accurate insight into the data on the basis of which they can follow developments in the real estate market.
RGA states that the number of apartments sold in the third quarter of 2022 is 5.6 percent lower compared to the same period last year, stressing that the decline in the purchase and sale of real estate through loans also contributes to the market slowdown.
Ivana Štrbac, Head of the Department for Real Estate Valuation and Management of RGA, tells RTS that the housing price index is an indicator of real estate value growth in a certain period.
"International institutions such as the OSCE and the EU have issued a manual recommending a mathematical method that the RGA also applies and which is used to calculate that index," adds Ivana Štrbac.
As he states, the real estate price index includes elements such as number of rooms, number of floors, size of the apartment, whether the building has an elevator, central heating, how far the market, hospital or school are.
"The index is important because it transparently enables citizens to have insight into the movement of the real estate market," says Ivana Štrbac.
HOW THE FLAT PRICE INDEX IS CALCULATED
According to her, the value of an apartment can easily be calculated based on the index, but only for those that have been in circulation since 2016, because the parameters for the calculation originate from that time.
If we bought an apartment in the first quarter of 2019 when the base index was 100, and today the index for the whole of Serbia is 138.08, this means that the value of old buildings and new real estate has increased by 38 percent, notes Ivana Štrbac.
As the current value of real estate is calculated, Ivana Štrbac cites the example of an apartment of older construction purchased in the third quarter of 2020.
"If it is assumed that the apartment was bought for 100,000 euros, it is multiplied by the current index of 147 and then divided by the index at the time of purchase, 115, the result will be 128,000," explains the head of the Republic Geodetic Authority.
Ivana Štrbac states that the index is calculated for Belgrade, Šumadija, western, southern and eastern Serbia. In recent years, Belgrade and Vojvodina have led the rise in real estate prices, while in the last quarter it was southern and eastern Serbia, especially when it comes to old buildings.
Source: rts.rs
