Croatia

[Bianka]

I bought one apartment in croatia, on island Veli Losin.35m2 costed me 45 000eur and after one year on this island there is no chance to buy under 80 000 eur

[qrm]

Originally Posted by Bianka

I bought one apartment in croatia, on island Veli Losin.35m2 costed me 45 000eur and after one year on this island there is no chance to buy under 80 000 eur

Yes, that was good buy. For some croatian islands can take bit more time to come to with ferry or so but it certanly worth the time as they are great. I just came back yesterday from island Krk, weather is still great, not so crowded so perfect...

[Bianka]

Originally Posted by qrm

Yes, that was good buy. For some croatian islands can take bit more time to come to with ferry or so but it certanly worth the time as they are great. I just came back yesterday from island Krk, weather is still great, not so crowded so perfect...

well i had a guest in my apartment and they leave 3 days sooner coz the weather was not so good anymore Actualy this apartment i bought in veli losinj is good investment 4 me coz i had all season full How much did you pay 4 this apartment on krk?per day?

[qrm]

Originally Posted by Bianka

well i had a guest in my apartment and they leave 3 days sooner coz the weather was not so good anymore Actualy this apartment i bought in veli losinj is good investment 4 me coz i had all season full How much did you pay 4 this apartment on krk?per day?

We are refurbrishing over 400y old house in village on Krk, bought it for less than 25k gbp for 95m2. We are kind of at home at Krk so not paying much or at all, but normaly is from 75 to 120 eur a day, depends on size, in high season.

[Bianka]

Originally Posted by qrm

We are refurbrishing over 400y old house in village on Krk, bought it for less than 25k gbp for 95m2. We are kind of at home at Krk so not paying much or at all, but normaly is from 75 to 120 eur a day, depends on soize, in high season.

mmmmm sound realy nice, I allways wanted some stone house 4 my self but the prices are realy high now and you need aloth of money to do all what needs to be done are you from croatia?

[qrm]

Yes. I live in north part of inland Croatia, but very frequently going to Istria, Rijeka and Kvarner islands...

[istracpsboss]

Hi

I'm new here. Google Alerts took a long while to come up with here! I'm an agent in Istria.

Kana makes good points. The Golemovic/Istrian Experience expansion was responsible for the dramatic land price increases here. Once the locals realised that he needed a lot of plots with good sea views in a relatively tight area, to satisfy his contract with Citygreen/Istrian Experience to build 80 villas, mostly on sites with just one or two villas, although there were some bigger sites, prices rocketed from around 20,22,24 Euros/m2 to 70 in around 18mths. It was simple supply and demand. Unfortunately, land in adjacent areas, where there was not the same demand, went up too, as vendors thought if others in the Porec area could get it, they wanted it too. Vesta caused the same effect in the Buje area.

The result has been that developers now expect much more for their houses, having paid too much for their land. Too few apply normal economics. They don't look at available money from housebuyers and build to satisfy that. They ask us what should they build. We tell them and six months later they bring us visualisations of wonderful houses which are clearly very expensive. When we query this, they say, 'but we had to pay 100Eur/m2 for the land'. Saying, but you didn't. If you all refused for a few months, land prices would drop to levels that you could build on and actually sell for, doesn't seem to sink in. They should have taken their profit on their previous sales and sat tight for a year, instead of thinking that they must be developing continuously. They'll now have to wait for the higher net worth tourism campaign to bear fruit. The houses, locations and views are lovely, but until the profile of Istria rises more as a destination for higher net worth people, we will continue to have a plethora of upmarket villas needing buyers.
The prices don't drop but once the bank loans the developers used get near the usual two year period, they will have to. Foreign owners drop those they want to sell, until they get buyers, but Croatian owners refuse to and their properties stick. It's one thing for hereditary land owners holding out, who probably don't need the money, but another for developers who have money, often borrowed, invested in construction.

I'd love to see land prices drop, because we'd then move stuff. Instead, they persist in trying to hold out for prices that make construction of affordable property difficult. Getting developers to build Fords and Toyotas instead of Rolls Royces is an uphill task!

The more imaginative ones are starting to offer mortgages on their properties from the same banks that are financing them, but the rest will just wait.

Golf will make the big difference, as it will extend the letting season, as well as filling in a gap in the infrastructure necessary for higher net worth buyers. You can play golf here in January. You'd love it now. The 'season' is over and already restaurants and hotels are closing until next year, yet the weather is great and people have been sunbathing this week. We are conditioned by formal concepts of 'the season' rather than the real desirability of Istria outside of that. May, for instance, is usually gorgeous, yet many restaurants are still not open then, because it is not 'the season'.
Golf will change all that. The course that Kempinski have been building in Savudrija is already beginning to look like one. It's a pity that prices on their adjacent residential development have already outstripped the advantages of it, but it will offer superb facilities to anyone with villas within 20mins drive of it, and that takes in a broad swathe of north west Istria from Porec north. The Markocija one has already been clearing the land. It will be interesting to see how recent global financial problems have affected Jupiter, who are financing it.

However, golf construction is under way in Istria, with Gardiner & Theobald project managing and while prices are currently sticking for many villas, they will inevitably rise once the facilities are completed, as genuine demand returns.

There are even potential courses being mooted at places not on the usual list, where local communes are realising the potential and have available sites. Visnjan, where our offices are, is one. Because the majority of the land is owned by the commune, it will not suffer from the problem the Motovun one faced in trying to assemble sufficient land from multiple owners.

Istria, with year round access through Pula in summer and Trieste (both Ryanair) at any time and good underground water, is set to become the golf centre of Croatia. There are vastly more planned here than in any other part of Croatia.

Now if I could only find this land, that Kana reckons could be had for 30 Eur/m2..............

Cheers

Peter

[newera]

Any changes to property prices due to current economic situation?

[istracpsboss]

Property being sold by foreigners is reflecting current demand and is being reduced until prices match buyers, but Croatian owners are still holding out in expectation of things getting better and keeping prices at existing levels.

However, despite wanting advertised prices to remain high, many are willing to do a deal.

Hope this helps!

Peter Ellis

Porec Sales Office - over the road from Lidl
Croatia Property Services
A trading name of Peter Ellis Grupa d.o.o.
Selling in the new Tuscany!

Tel +385 (0) 98182 62 40
+385 (0) 98 26 16 24
+385 (0) 99 69 38 856 Eng/Hr/It/De
+385 (0) 99 69 38 859 Eng/Hr
+385 (0) 52 44 94 34 Eng/Hr/It/De
Fax +385 (0) 52 44 94 40

[felicia]

Hello - I'm new to this forum which I have just discovered. I have property in Istria and live in UK. Am battling to get equal rights for foreigners wishing to rent out their property for tourist lets.

Another very discouraging fact which makes property investment in Croatia very unattractive is the fact that non nationals can no longer get categorization to rent to tourists even through d.o.o. - so bad luck if one did not make it in time by end of 2007. The fact that this is (for British citizens) contrary to the bi-lateral agreement with the UK signed in 1998 for the Promotion and Protection of Investments seems to elicit a total non-response from anyone. However my MP has taken this up in parliament here but progress is very slow. In the meantime many of us are suffering financially and in turn the Croatian Tourist Board are not doing themselves any favours by discouraging these lets which would bring in a substantial amount of the tourists their economy depends upon. Neither does it promote goodwill among the foreigners who unwittingly invested albeit under the previous discriminating laws. Perhaps the reduction in tourists predicted for this year will elicit some change - I have seen that Bajs (Minister of Tourism) is considering a reduction of VAT in for those engaged in providing tourist services for NEXT year - of course, they could not consider for this year that would be far too swift.
If anyone has any further information on this subject I would be very glad to hear it.