March the 3rd, 2023 - As real estate prices rise considerably here in the city and even on the outskirts, every second Zagreb property has been purchased in cash, while every third has been bought by a foreign national.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the price of Zagreb property is continuing to skyrocket. Despite this, apartments across the city are selling very well, moreover, they're often bought in cash. With Croatia's accession to the Eurozone back in January this year, the City of Zagreb, like the whole of Croatia, became more interesting for foreign buyers who want to invest their money in real estate.

Every other Zagreb property was paid for in cash, and every third buyer has been a foreign citizen. Their interest in Croatian real estate is the among the first reasons for the high prices we've seen of late, with inflation also affecting the situation.

Second come Croats living outside of Croatia who aren't considered foreigners but domestic customers, third come the people who sold them that property and then again handle the cash and again that cash flows into Zagreb. Fourth are those people who have various sources of income, about which it's better not to ask much,'' said Sanjin Rastovac, a real estate agent for HRT.

Apartment prices across Zagreb have by risen by more than 15 percent in the last year. Residents of Germany, Austria and Slovenia buy the most Zagreb property of all, and these increased prices are also acceptable for them.

"Within Zagreb itself, finding a new build for three thousand euros has become a difficult task. The demand is still huge, but the supply is weak,'' emphasised Rastovac. This is why there are more and more young people who, even with APN subsidies, cannot buy their first property. This new situation forced them to turn more and more to the outskirts of the city, where prices are now also rising steadily.

"Smaller towns dotted around Zagreb, for example Dugo Selo, Sesvete, Velika Gorica, and Zapresic, have now become very interesting for young families who can still manage to afford property in these areas," said Jelena Kravoscanec Todorovic, a real estate agent.

In the City of Zagreb, they have a plan for so-called affordable housing where rent will be proportional to income, and quality apartments will be built and rented throughout the city. The first such apartment building will be built next year.

"It's a new building, the fifth multi-apartment building in Podbrezje with 288 apartments that costs 320 million kuna, and we're negotiating with development banks," explained Luka Korlaet, Zagreb's deputy mayor. This is exactly the model supported by the European Investment Bank at a recent meeting with the mayor, confirming that such a model is widely accepted across the rest of the European Union, where people across many member states are obviously struggling with the same problems.

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April 27, 2022 - Last year, foreign citizens bought 9,514 properties of real estate in Croatia, which is a high increase of 50 percent compared to 2020.

According to research done by Jutarnji List with information from the Croatian Tax Administration, the highest year-on-year growth in the purchase of real estate in Croatia among foreigners was achieved by citizens of Germany, Austria, and Slovenia, reports tportal.hr.

Last year, German citizens bought 2,637 properties in Croatia, which is an increase of 1,089 sales or even 70 percent compared to 2020, Austrians made 1,109 purchases (472 more properties or an increase of 74 percent compared to 2020), while Slovenians last year became the owners of 2309 properties in our country, achieving an increase in purchases compared to the previous year by 32 percent or 550 more properties.

"The data do not show the total purchase and sale of real estate in 2020 and 2021, but only the sale of real estate for which the Tax Administration conducted the procedure of determining the tax base. In addition, data on real estate sales are still being updated ", they note in the Tax Administration and suggest that, in the end, the growth in the number of real estate sales made by foreigners with sellers in Croatia could be even higher.

In any case, the registered growth of foreigners' demand for domestic real estate confirms the recent allegations of entrepreneurs and real estate market experts who told Jutarnji list that the increased interest of foreigners in domestic real estate is one of the reasons for unprecedented growth in new apartment prices in the last quarter of last year.

Namely, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the purchase prices of new dwellings in the last quarter of last year were 15 percent higher than the prices realized in the last quarter of 2020: such growth has not been recorded in the last decade. In addition, the average prices of all residential real estate purchases in 2021 were 7.3 percent higher than in 2020.

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In addition to real estate prices, rental properties have also risen sharply, especially expensive properties such as villas and luxury hotels.

As Novac writes on the 22nd of August, 2019, while many young and even older Croatian citizens continue to leave the country in search of a better economic situation abroad, troubled but beautiful Croatia is also a promised land for some.

Two such workers are Valentyna Tereshchenko, a 24-year-old Ukrainian from Cherkasy, and her friend Olha Valchuk, 23, also a Ukrainian citizen from Dnipro. The two girls arrived in the Dalmatian city of Zadar hungry for work and got a job at a local cafe.

''Your economic situation is better than ours back in Ukraine, so my friend and I decided to come and work in Croatia this summer. The first arrival was my mother Katarina, who got a job at a hotel near the city, and then her sister Anna, who decided to go to Zagreb.

We came here through an agency and I can tell you now that we didn't regret it. I've also worked in Malta, Greece and Cyprus, and although the salary was the best in Malta, after paying for the accommodation, I would have less than I do here in Zadar, so I can say without hesitation that your country ''sits the best'' with me. The job is good, the people are lovely, both the colleagues and the customers, and I really can't complain. And Zadar is beautiful. Admittedly, I must admit that I've had little time to visit it because I work in the afternoon and sleep in the mornings, but what I've seen, I really like, Valentyna told local paper Zadarski list.

There's a similar story to be heard from Olha.

''I'm satisfied, everything suits me and I'm very glad that I came here. The job is good, I have no qualms, and everything else is good, too. I don't get much time to go around town, but I saw the Sea Organ and the Greeting to the Sun, and that, as I heard, is one of the most interesting things you have to offer. We work a lot so there's not so much free time, so our rhythm is: sleeping until late, going shopping, and then going to work. We cook at home and unlike Cyprus where it was difficult to find all the foods we're used to back in Ukraine, here, from what I've seen, you have a great choice of food,'' said Olha, or Olga in Croatian.

The two girls are proud to point out that they have learned a few Croatian words as well.

''We have many similar words, and as it's common for us in Ukraine that almost everyone speaks Russian, knowing multiple languages ​​makes it easier for us to communicate. In addition to our language, Valentyna and I speak both English and Turkish, which we perfected in Cyprus, so when we add Russian into the mix, then we have the tool for adapting in a foreign world is ready,'' the girls laugh.

Valentyna adds that Poland was the  promised land the youth of the country, given that the majority of them from Ukraine were going to work there, but for the two of them, Poland wasn't in their plans.

''Poland is a conservative country, and we're hearing about that more and more and we don't like it. In addition, there's a strong industry there and our friends there work mostly in factories, and we weren't interested in that. We like your company, which fortunately is still more liberal than it is in Poland. We are young and want to hang out with open young people, and feel free, so our choice is Croatia before Poland,'' concluded the girls.

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