Real estate in Serbia: apartment prices are ruled by Russians and Ukrainians?

The prices for renting and selling apartments and houses in Serbia have significantly decreased compared to last year's peak in October-November. Depending on the neighborhoods of Belgrade, prices have fallen by 30%. The drop in rental prices in the city center is slightly lower, but here prices are determined by less demand and have also fallen, say experts from one Belgrade real estate agency.

Prices are still high, and you can see in advertisements that a two-bedroom apartment on New Belgrade is rented for 1,000 euros a month. "Of course, there are such offers, but given the demand, property owners realized that they would not be able to rent out properties so easily and started lowering prices. They are now somewhere between the period before the arrival of Russian and Ukrainian citizens and the peak of real estate prices at the end of last year," the experts explain.

When it comes to selling real estate, prices have started to fall. However, this reduction is about 10%. Russians are also buyers of real estate in Serbia, but not in such large numbers as is the case with rentals. "Prices are still much higher than before the war in Ukraine, so you can see in the ads that for a square meter of apartment in the city center they ask for several thousand euros more. Prices have stabilized, they are falling, but not as sharply as before," conclude real estate agents.

Professor of the Faculty of Economics and economic analyst Ljubodrag Savic says that the fall in real estate prices was fully expected. "Everything in a market economy has its periods of growth, stagnation and decline. Nothing lasts forever," Savich emphasizes.

"It is known that many Ukrainian and Russian citizens, seeking to escape the war, paid to leave the country. Thus, the people who came here had some money. They did not come as poor citizens, but as those who have capital and those who work in fields that are not related to their place of residence," says the professor. When they arrived in Serbia, they had little interest in prices, so they sharply dictated real estate prices to locals as well, Savic continues.

"However, when they realized they were paying too much, they started looking for apartments on the outskirts of the city and even outside. At some point, apartments in other cities, such as Jagodina, became very much in demand. In addition, many citizens of Ukraine and Russia have left Serbia, which also influenced the decrease in demand and, therefore, the decrease in real estate prices," Savic emphasizes.

According to the experts' analysis, a number of circumstances have influenced this situation in Serbia. The good news is that the period of lower prices in this area has clearly arrived. While they are not back to the levels of a few years ago, real estate prices have definitely stabilized at the moment. (EURACTIV.rs)