The war in Ukraine is affecting real estate prices in Serbia, with renters now becoming buyers.

The war in Ukraine affected the growth of real estate prices in Serbia

Mainly on the rental sector, and to a lesser extent on the sale of apartments and office space, real estate agents said on the anniversary of the start of the conflict.

Activity of Russian and Ukrainian citizens in renting apartments in Belgrade

Director of Art real estate agency in Belgrade Uroš Jovanović said, quoting Tanjug, that citizens of Russia and Ukraine last year rented apartments in Belgrade with greater activity in three waves, in March, June and October. "During this period, according to official data, more than 150,000 people arrived. They were mostly interested in renting. A small part was also interested in buying, perhaps less than one percent," Jovanovic says.

He adds that this trend is slowly changing, with some renters now becoming buyers. He estimates that in a hypothetical situation, if the war ended tomorrow, the real estate market might not see an immediate strong drop in prices. "Of course it would have an impact, but not immediately. According to all the information we have, there is a significant part of people who came from the IT sector, and according to my information, at the moment a huge number of services, or tools, they cannot use in the Russian Federation," Jovanovic emphasizes and adds that a large number of people are now connected to Serbia because of work.

Impact of Russian citizens' demand on rent and prices

He also points to situations when landlords had one price for Russian or Ukrainian citizens, and slightly lower for locals. "But this later disappeared because there was a huge demand of Russian citizens for apartments and they were ready to pay a price above the market price, so a lot of landlords decided on them," Jovanovic says.

Situation on the real estate market in Niš

Vladimir Živadinović, director of the agency Boks Real Estate from Niš, told Tanjug that there was no great demand for buying apartments in Niš, because the first options for Russian and Ukrainian citizens were Belgrade and Novi Sad, so it did not directly affect the market, but indirectly because of the increase in real estate prices at the country level.

"There has been a big increase in demand for rental space, both residential space and commercial space, in the Nisza region, and this has had an impact on price increases," says Zivadinovic.

As he says, if the war ended tomorrow, prices would not fall quickly because people are already somewhat used to it. "Russians and Ukrainians come to us and rent apartments, and they use these premises both for work and for living. This is one of the reasons why it is profitable for them to pay higher prices, and also their rental price is higher than ours, so they are willing to pay more than our citizens," says Živadinović.

He adds that on the streets of Niš, you can hear both Russian and Ukrainian, but he is not sure they want to settle in this city permanently, because, as he suggests, they would be buying apartments in that case. "They are mostly looking for rental apartments, probably waiting for something to happen regarding the war," emphasizes Živadinović.

He adds that among the foreign students who enrolled in the medical faculty in Niš last year, many have moved from Ukraine, as there is a department where courses are taught in English. However, they are not potential buyers either, as they are more interested in renting apartments.