Which cities in Serbia have the highest house sales?

November 16, 2023, 3:25 PM

There is a low demand for houses in residential areas of Belgrade, while in other Serbian cities the demand for such properties is increasing. During the last year, the most houses were sold outside Belgrade, in Subotica - about 1,200 units, and this city retained the first place in the number of sales of such properties in 2023, with 564 houses sold in the first six months. There was also a great demand for houses in Zrenjanin, and 425 such properties were sold. The list of leaders also includes Novi Sad with 377 sold houses and Šabac with 244 sold houses. Sombor, Kragujevac, Bečej, Pančevo, Sremska Mitrovica and Kikinda are also in the top ten. All of these towns sold more houses in the first half of the year than any neighborhood in Belgrade.

In the first half of the year, the most expensive house in Serbia was sold in the Savski Venec neighborhood for 4.8 million euros. However, only 25 houses were sold in this neighborhood, which were mostly luxury villas, and the cheapest one was sold for 160,000 euros. In the Belgrade neighborhoods, the highest volume of house sales was recorded in Obrenovac with 153 sold houses, Zvezdara and Vojdovac with 126 sold properties each.

The specialized real estate website 4zida currently offers more than 13,000 advertisements for houses for sale in Serbia, of which about 2,500 are related to Belgrade. Dejan Graovac, owner of the real estateagency Sold Su nekretnine, says that there are fewer houses for sale in the center of Subotica, and such properties are most often bought by investors for residential construction, while buyers who want to live in them prefer areas outside the city center. "Prices for square meters of houses in Subotica range from 200 to around 1,000 euros, depending on the location and quality of the object. The most sought-after parts of the city are located near the center: Novi grad, Kertvaroš, Teslino nesљe and Žeљezničko nesљe. It is characteristic for this year that the supply matches the demand, perhaps even slightly exceeding it," says Graovac. He notes that the supply in new buildings is good, new buildings are being constructed, but not in the same volume as in the previous two years, and adds that the prices of apartments in new buildings are stagnating, with a tendency to increase next year, while house prices have been stagnant for some time.

The real estate market in Subotica was affected by the increase in demand for houses outside the city with the advent of the pandemic.

In Zrenjanin the most sought-after parts of the city are 4. juli, Lesnina and Baglaš settlement, and Daniela Radovanchev from the agency "Gsigma nekretnine" says that prices range from 300 to 1000 euros per square meter. Supply currently exceeds demand, so potential buyers have a lot to choose from. Also over the past few years, interest in houses in the Zrenjanin rural areas has increased. "The cheapest houses start at 12,000 euros, while the most expensive are two-storey and well-maintained houses made of sturdy material, which sell in the range of 50,000 to 100,000 euros, and sometimes there is an offer like we have in Cienti, a family hostel house for 450,000 euros," says Daniela Radovanchev.

She notes that about 5,000 apartments in new buildings are expected to be completed in Zrenjanin in the coming years. Šabac has been among the top three in demand for houses in recent months, and Zorica Ђоkiћ, owner of the Kolumbo agency, says prices have reached high levels because sellers are more likely to compare the price per square meter of an apartment with the price per square meter of a house. "At our agency, the valuation of houses is done differently. The price is influenced by more than one parameter, such as location, plot size and year of construction, so the price per square meter is not determined according to location, because each house is unique, even if they are next to each other. We can say that Center and Živinarnik, the area around Big Park-Kamičak and the area around Small Park-Kamenjak are the most demanded recently," says Zorica Ђokiћ.

The upward trend in demand for houses in rural areas is also seen in the outskirts of Shabazz, where it is still possible to find properties for 10,000 euros, but prices are also reaching over 100,000 euros. "The most expensive houses are in the villages around Šabac, where there is city water, sewage and access to infrastructure and asphalt road. There are also old houses for sale in the city, even on less attractive locations for residential construction, as well as houses for living in all locations," says Zorica Ђokiћ.