Real estate market stirring up – Better lending conditions, but also apartment price jump, predicted

Euribor is dropping, which will lead to more favorable lending conditions, but also an increase in real estate prices. The real estate market has a big influence on the economy. By paying the tax in the sales and purchase process, and when renting too, at least in theory, contributions are made to the state budget and possibilities are created for new investments. Those in the know say that now is the ideal time to start negotiating about apartment purchases, but also for the institutions to dedicate themselves to that industry.

That the real estate market is stirring up is also confirmed by the increased turnover in the past few months. The prices are growing, slower than in the past period, and the offer is growing as well. The experts agree – it is a better choice to buy an apartment than to rent.

Apartments are currently bought more rarely for housing and more frequently as an investment.

According to the data of the Republic Geodetic Authority, in Serbia, 85% of the apartments are bought for cash, whereas there are 25% of those who become owners through taking out a loan.

The vice-president of the expert council of Klaster nekretnina Srbije, Milic Djokovic, says that EUR 100,000 from a loan creates EUR 450,000 of so-called cash.

– People often wonder where all the cash is coming from, there is no cash, the bank is the cash, the bank initiates and practically starts the turnover itself and then it just multiplies – Djokovic clarifies.

New apartments, investors say, are sold out even before the works are completed.

In Serbia, 30% of the people have more than one piece of real estate. There are plenty of those who commercialize them.

The unregulated apartment rent market, in addition to the risks it entails, leads to budget losses, but also causes problems for the owners.

Those familiar with the matter see amendments to the Law on Housing and the introduction of the obligation of professional managers, with the status of an official person, to run records on renting as a way of regulating the market.

– What us professional managers do is to, when defining the building, request the owner of the apartment to state whether they live in the apartment, by filling out the form, or they are commercializing it – explains Ljubisa Banovacki.

There are no exact records of how many apartments in Serbia are rented out, according to the latest census.

A total of 123,000 people said they rented an apartment, whereas around 2,000 owners paid the tax for renting out an apartment.