Traces of a sharp drop in the price per square meter in Serbia.

It is expected that the prices for square meters of housing in Serbia will soon drop sharply. The number of real estate transactions in Serbia continues to decrease - in the last quarter, the number of transactions decreased by 15.9% compared to last year. This means that there are fewer and fewer real estate buyers in Serbia. According to experts, this indicates an inevitable decline in prices for square meters in 2024, and we may see the first signs of this in 3-6 months.

In the first half of 2023, the Registration and Geodesy Service of Serbia (RGZ) noted a 13% decrease in the number of real estate transactions on the real estate market in Serbia, while in the third quarter this figure increased to 15.9%. From 2020 to the end of 2022, the number of transactions was more than 33,000 quarterly, but starting this year in the second quarter we have overcome only 30,000 transactions on the market. If experts are to be believed, there could be no better signal and sign that a price drop for square footage is looming, and up to 20%!

VladimirвЂukanovic, an economist and consultant, says, "it is quite obvious that after such a report, prices for square meters in the next period should decrease. The decrease in prices for square meters is expected in the near future due to a decrease in transactions, which means that there is no demand and prices need to be lowered. In this case, it will take three to six months for this data provided by official statistics to be reflected in prices. At the moment, supply has never been as high as it is now, but buying is stopping.

The interlocutor explains that during the pandemic, the printing of large amounts of money encouraged massive investment in real estate, which led to a "pumping" of prices. However, he emphasizes that in the next period the trend is expected to reverse and prices are expected to change.

The Nekretnine.rs portal report for October shows that the prices for square meters in all major cities in Serbia remained almost unchanged compared to November this year. Some districts registered a drop, but in a minimal, almost imperceptible percentage. Prices per square meter are still highest in Belgrade, while the price per square meter in Novi Sad is approaching Belgrade prices. According to this report, the only place in Belgrade where there has been a decrease in prices is the Palijski district - about 4%, while in Vračar, the most sought-after location in Belgrade, the price per square meter has decreased by less than half a percent. In Novi Sad, only one district, Podbara, registered a price decrease of 0.44%, while in Niš the price per square meter fell by 0.27% in the area of Pantelej and Paliljula. In the city of Pancevo, square meters also decreased by 2.43% in the same period.

Inflationary pressures in Serbia and in the EU continue to weaken, which is reflected in the real estate market in our country. The share of the partially regulated market (real estate transactions that are not registered with the cadastral office) continues to grow compared to last year and amounted to 32% of the total value in the third quarter.

The latest RGZ report shows that in addition to stabilization and reduced activity on the real estate market, the third quarter saw a moderate increase in apartment prices across Serbia, and according to experts, this is a trend that will continue next year.