The owner of the real estate agency prefers Montenegro for wealthy people rather than Dubrovnik.

The famous British couple Victoria and David Beckham, according to the Bosnian-Herzegovinian newspaper "Avaz," have shown interest in purchasing a luxury villa in Montenegro, near Tivat, priced at 12 million euros.

The Beckham family has already vacationed in Montenegro, staying at a luxurious complex on the island of Sveti Stefan. They are not the first celebrities to show interest and purchase luxury real estate in Montenegro - at the end of July, it was announced that the famous Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic bought a villa with a private beach in the upscale village of Ljuta in Boka Kotorska, according to the media. The amount is around 1.3 million euros, but this is difficult to confirm. Djokovic recently vacationed with his family in Dubrovnik and Korčula, two places he usually enjoys visiting.

The Beckhams enjoyed their vacation in our region.

Dubrovnik boasts famous and well-known individuals who have chosen this place to purchase real estate. For example, Slavica Ekstlston became the proud owner of a villa in Zaton a few years ago, footballer Edin Džeko settled closer to the city center, Russian magnate Viktor Vekselberg has long enjoyed his square meters in Ložice, and American diplomat William Montgomery is in Cavtat, the same small town where renowned tennis player Thomas Muster sold his villa a few years back.

Owning property on the southern coast of Croatia has always been a matter of prestige, so the Beckhams' intention to purchase real estate in Montenegro, despite having vacationed there twice, surprised experts. They visited neighboring Montenegro in 2018 and 2019, and in 2022 they traveled to Dubrovnik and the Elaphiti Islands.

WISH FOR PRIVACY

Many famous people are also interested in Dubrovnik. Just because the Beckhams have shown interest in buying a villa doesn't mean they actually bought one, said Goran Pikunić, the owner of the Dubrovnik real estate agency "Libertas Engineering." It may be subjective, but Dubrovnik and its surroundings are a more luxurious and refined place than Montenegro. This is confirmed by the many clients of mine who are our guests, have purchased property, and often visit; they have also been to Montenegro, Pikunić noted, who has been selling real estate for about 20 years. He could not name his famous clients and claims that we do not have enough quality real estate to satisfy such clients. Money is not a problem for them; the issue lies with our offerings. We have only a few villas that should be luxurious and provide privacy. Dubrovnik does not have many such villas inland, and there is little space left for construction by the sea, so it is difficult to guarantee privacy for such a property buyer. Currently, we have 4-5 famous individuals on our list who are interested in purchasing, but we are waiting for an offer that does not yet meet their requirements. One of our clients made an offer of 30 million euros to our compatriot for his property, but the person refused, Pikunić said.

VALUE FOR MONEY

Regarding the comparison with Montenegro, he says: "In my opinion, it's difficult to compare us and them.

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Dubrovnik is a pleasant place to live, and as a tourist destination, we are more sophisticated, at least two or three steps ahead of Montenegro. They have made progress compared to Croatia and the Dubrovnik region - they have three serious separate complexes: Porto Montenegro, Luštica Bay, and Porto Novi. These are marinas and places with luxurious accommodations that attract wealthy people. They sail on their yachts across the Adriatic, and Montenegro has better fuel service stations and cheaper fuel for yacht tourism. These are some topics we should consider in Croatia and along the southern Adriatic coast to create something similar," he believes. He added that property prices in the mentioned resort areas exceed 10,000 euros per square meter, which is justified by luxury. But, as Pikunic says, guests generally do not leave the resort, while in Dubrovnik they mingle with the locals, which offers a completely different vacation experience. "We lack stores selling luxury brands, especially on Stradun, so wealthy guests have places to spend their money. We could improve in this area, but in my opinion, we are still ahead of them," he emphasized, referring to the neighbors. "It saddens me that the media portrays Dubrovnik as a very expensive place. In my opinion, we are not too expensive, although there are always some exceptions, but when compared to other places, including Montenegro, Dubrovnik is not too pricey. You can have coffee at reasonable prices right in the city, near Stradun, and as a gastronomic destination, we also surpass everyone else, both Montenegro and the rest of Croatia," he added. "We have at least ten high-end restaurants. Our only problem is a number of budget restaurants that set prices too high, so there is no value for money," he concluded.