Purchased apartments in Serbia: growing demand among foreigners for attractive locations.

The price per square meter was predicted to decrease in Serbia, but this has not happened yet. Real estate prices remain about the same, but construction has slowed considerably. The trend that was started by the Russians with their arrival has also slowed. Looking for an answer to the question of who buys real estate in Serbia, besides the expected answer that in most cases it is local buyers, more and more Russians and people from the region are on the list of those interested.

Serbia is experiencing a month-to-month decline in building permits, construction is slowing down. In April, 1,972 building permits were issued, a decrease of 11.1% from the same month last year. The apartments are still for sale, just a question of who is on the buyers list, as interest rates are twice as high as they used to be and the monthly loan payment can hardly be less than 500 euros. Then who is buying?

About 70% of the apartments from our project were sold using credit, which means that the buyers are local citizens. These are mostly people who buyreal estate to live in. And that 30% who buy with cash are also mostly our citizens or people who have their own businesses or funds from other sources. The different structures of customers buying real estate are different, and it's not the same whether they're looking at an apartment in the old part of town or in other neighborhoods. For example, the people of Vojvodina do not want to move across the river - Marko Ivic, owner of M Gradnja, told Blic Biznis earlier. MilicвЂokovic, a real estate appraiser and expert, says that today a large number of local citizens buy apartments in Serbia, but there are also those who come from abroad and the region. He emphasizes that these are people who change apartments and sell a smaller property for a larger one and vice versa, or those who move for personal reasons to another neighborhood. - These are young people who are planning a family. Foreigners and migrants also continue to buy, and recently there has been a new wave of buyers, and they are our people from Croatia - says the interlocutor. According to him, although the price per square meter is still high for the average buyer in Serbia, it is still the lowest in the region for foreigners.

Investors, economists, appraisers have different visions of further development, but they agree that the future of this sector is uncertain, as supply and demand are the basic principles on which the real estate market is based.

Russians are ready to give up to 150,000 euros for real estate Russian citizens in Belgrade have started actively buying real estate, and they are very well informed and ready to allocate up to 150,000 euros for real estate in peripheral locations. Uroš Jovanović, director of a real estateagency, told Tanjug that the main surge in real estate purchases by foreigners is expected to begin in September. - The Russians mostly had rented apartments for a year, which gradually began to run out. They are slowly starting the apartment search process and we have daily inquiries from them. We are one of the agencies that have mediated the sale of more than ten properties in recent months - said Jovanovic. Characteristic of them, he says, is that they are well informed when buying and are not willing to overpay for real estate. - Their main requirement is that the apartment be ready to move into and be within 45 minutes of the city center, which in Belgrade includes up to 80% of the supply. They are willing to spend their budget equally for both central city locations and peripheral locations," Jovanovic said. He also noted that Russians were willing to buy apartments at a higher price per square meter than the market price, but these are exceptions and these are apartments that have been sold for a very long time and do not affect the market price. - For Russians, especially those who come from Moscow, the location, which is a 45-minute drive from the city center, is quite acceptable, so the settlements of Mirijevo, Rakovica and Braћe Jerkovica are suitable for them - said Jovanovic. He notes that Russian citizens are mainly from the IT sector and are willing to pay up to 150,000 euros for real estate. - A one-room apartment on Banjica was sold to Russians for 3,000 euros per square meter. For that price per square meter, local citizens were not interested, and the seller was lucky to find a buyer willing to pay. The real price of apartments in Banjica is 30-40% lower - he emphasized.