Photo: freepik.comThe demand for office space was significantly reduced during the corona virus pandemic, as most companies were forced to organize work from home. After two years of stagnation, this part of the real estate market is slowly coming back, and according to experts, the demand is rising and companies are "moving" their offices and operations to big cities in Serbia due to unstable geopolitical circumstances.
In the first half of 2022, 1,765 sales of office space were registered on the territory of Serbia and the turnover increased by nine percent compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the latest data from the Republic Geodetic Authority (RGA).
"Bars, offices, business premises for which the activity has not been determined, business apartments and storage and warehouse spaces were circulated. The highest turnover of office space trades was realized in the territory of the following municipalities: Novi Sad - 241, Raška - 146, Novi Beograd- 142, Čajetina - 90, Medijana (Niš) - 64, Vračar - 52, Zvezdara - 52, Stari grad (Belgrade) - 49, Palilula (Belgrade) - 45, Subotica - 41", the RGA report states.
Based on the analysis of the prices and surface area of commercial premises in the first half of this year, the prices in Serbia ranged from 50 euros per square meter in the Pomeranian District to 12,240 euros, which is the cost of a square meter of commercial premises in Belgrade.
"During the corona virus pandemic, the demand decreased drastically, and for a period after the 'opening' many employees still worked from home, so the demand itself was not at a high level. Recently, if we exclude the events in Ukraine, there is a standard high demand, especially for business premises of category A, such as in the capital Ušće Tower, West 65 tower, Airport City and others that meet the highest possible standards", he says in an interview with Biznis.rs executive director of real estate agency City Expert Miloš Mitić.
However, he points out that due to the current circumstances caused by the conflict in Ukraine, many companies are "moving" their operations to large cities in Serbia.
"It is noticeable that a lot of companies from Moscow are relocating primarily to Belgrade, but also to other cities such as Novi Sad and Niš. It is mainly about large companies that are looking for large square footage and also affect the disruption of supply and demand, both in terms of apartments and in terms of business premises. "Such companies attract a lot of employees who are looking for apartments, so that affects the demand," says Mitić.
According to him, the biggest problem is instability and the fact that it is still not known in which direction the market will move.
"We are not talking only about real estate, but about the economy in general." "Companies do not enter new premises unless they are in a big hurry to do so, so everyone is waiting for winter to pass and to see in which direction the economy will move," he adds.
LARGE RANGE OF PRICES - FROM 2,000 TO 15,000 EUROS PER SQUARE METER
In the first half of 2022, as the RGA report shows, the most sought-after business premises were up to 30 square meters (33 percent), then from 30 to 60 square meters (30 percent), from 60 to 150 square meters (22 percent) and over 150 square meters only 15 percent.
When it comes to buying and renting office space, Miloš Mitić says that everything depends on the location and the square footage, and that it is important whether it is located within business condominiums, buildings or in apartments that have been converted into office space.
"Business space is also looked at per square meter when renting. Depending on the location, it can be found for seven to eight euros per square meter, up to 15 euros. If we talk about business premises of category A, renting costs from 20-25 euros, and up to 40 euros per square meter. As for the purchase, the prices are different, they depend on the space itself and the location, so they go from some 2,000-2,500 euros to 10,000-15,000 euros per square meter. For example, business premises within Belgrade Waterfront and in the popular tower range between 3,500 and 4,500 euros per square meter, and the situation is similar in West," concludes Mitić.
Source: biznis.rs
