Last year, property owners demanded eight per cent more money for their apartments, while houses saw a rise of 4.5% in the asking prices compared to 2017. In the last two years, apartment asking prices have risen by as much as 13 per cent, while house prices rose more than 7 per cent, according to an annual analysis by Njuškalo conducted on a sample of more than 150,000 real estate ads from its base, reports Poslovni.hr on January 9, 2018.

The website also recorded significant annual growth in the number of visitors to its Real Estate category. In 2018, there were as much as 11 per cent more visits than in 2017, and more than 20 per cent more than in 2016, with a growing trend in the number of visits from abroad. The share of foreign visitors to the Real Estate category was over 12 per cent, with most visitors clicking from Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia and Austria.

Apartment prices grew most in coastal towns, and in Zagreb and surrounding towns. The average asking price for an apartment in Zagreb now amounts to 1,961 euros per square metre, 10.4 per cent more than at the end of 2017, while the average price of a house with a yard is 1,296 euros.

The price of a square metre in Split has reached 2,792 euros, an increase of 11 per cent compared to December 2017, while the most substantial rise in the prices was recorded in Dubrovnik, with an average of 3,773 euros per square metre, 16 per cent more than the year before.

In Zadar, the asking price increase was even higher than in Split, almost 13 per cent, and the average asking price for an apartment is 2,116 euros per square metre. Rijeka recorded a jump of 4 per cent, and the current average price is around 1,520 euros.

In Samobor near Zagreb, apartment prices increased by 12 per cent, while in Karlovac the jump was slightly smaller (8 per cent). Although the average prices of apartments in larger towns in eastern Croatia used to stagnate or decline, the end of the last year brought a rise in asking prices there as well, according to Njuškalo.

The average price of an apartment in Osijek is 963 euros per square metre, 4 per cent more than in 2017. Slavonski Brod recorded an increase of 2 per cent, and the average price of an apartment there was 802 euros.

As for houses, owners ask for 4,623 euros on average in Dubrovnik, 3,029 euros in Split, and just 510 euros per square metre in Požega in Slavonia.

More news on the Croatian real estate can be found in our Business section.

Translated from Poslovni.hr (reported by Marija Crnjak).

ZAGREB, January 4, 2019 - Despite the latest government measures, such as lower property sales tax, and planned subsidies for housing purchases, developments on the Croatian real estate market are not in favour of buyers because housing prices have increased by between six and seven percent since 2017, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) said on Friday.

With the start of the New Year, property sales tax was cut from four to three percent, and it has been announced that the five-year housing subsidy scheme could be extended for another two years to include couples who already have a child, and not just those who have a child only after they become beneficiaries of the scheme.

"Despite the planned measures, developments on the real estate market are not in favour of buyers because prices of square metre of property throughout Croatia have increased by between six and seven percent since last year," HGK said, recalling that similar increases in house prices had also been recorded in 2017 compared to 2016.

In Zagreb alone, house prices increased by nine percent on average last year, with the average price of square metre jumping to 1,900 euros.

More news on the Croatia’s housing market can be found in our Business section.

December 31, 2018 - A final property of the week to see out 2018, and a journey to the gorgeous island of Hvar.

Another year comes to an end, and there is plenty to look forward to in 2019. Will buying property in Croatia be on your list? We leave you with the final property of the week, courtesy of our friends at Trgostan:

A beautiful newer house of 90 sqm, on two floors, consisted of an open plan area (kitchen, dining and living area) and a bathroom on the ground floor, with three bedrooms and a bathroom on the 1st floor, recently built, with a spacious (70 sqm) intimate courtyard, in the town center on the north-west side of the island, close to the sea.

For more information, and to book a viewing, visit the Trgostan website. 

October 12, 2018 - While most real estate is based on the coast and Zagreb, an increasing number of foreigners are taking advantage of the excellent value on offer in rural Croatia. In the latest in our series on foreign entrepreneurs in Croatia, meet Paul Fischer, owner of Rural Property Croatia in the northern city of Varazdin. 

October 2, 2018 - It is the Croatian island made famous by the filming of Mamma Mia 2 this year - your chance to own a sea view on the gorgeous island of Vis.

September 26, 2018 - Split is a tourist city undergoing enormous change. An overview of the current property market with leading local real estate agency, Trgostan. 

ZAGREB, September 23, 2018 - The average price of a new flat's square metre in Croatia in the first half of 2018 was 10,829 kuna (approximately 1,460 euro), up 4.7% on the year, according to the national statistical office.

September 11, 2018 — Another offshoot in the zany world of Croatia’s legal labyrinth: a decade-old lawsuit finally decided who owns Zadar’s iconic Roman forum.

July 23, 2018 - Looking to hit real estate gold? How about a waterfront property on the island where Mamma Mia 2 was filmed?