February the 21st, 2022 - Despite the devastating effects of the global coronavirus pandemic on leisure, travel and tourism, we've managed to avoid a mass sale of hotels. The Croatian villa market is also blossoming.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Crnjak writes, the popular Croatian online buying and selling portal, Njuskalo, has some interesting statistics for us. They show that the number of active accommodation ads across the country increased by 20% from 2019 to the end of 2021, with a total of 12,015 active ads published last year.

Although in these two years there has been a slight increase in sales of property in which accommodation facilities operate, it seems that the coronavirus pandemic crisis in tourism in Croatia hasn't actually caused a significant wave of sales of hotels, boarding houses or hostels. It has had quite a surprising effect on the aforementioned Croatian villa market, as well.

In addition to the above, there are indications that the property market in this segment has well and truly recovered, especially compared to the first pandemic year of 2020, judging by the asking prices of buildings that grew everywhere except down in the infamously expensive Dubrovnik, according to Njuskalo.

The relatively fast recovery of the country's tourism, which stimulated the optimism of investors, is evidenced by the data of the consulting company Colliers, which presented this in their new review of the commercial real estate market in Croatia for the year 2021.

Colliers' analysis shows that last year as many as 39 percent of all transactions related to commercial real estate on the Croatian market were conducted in the hotel sector, after a relatively low share of 22 percent one year earlier, when the retail sector had absolute primacy in transactions.

The biggest transaction in tourism last year was the acquisition of Sunce Hoteli, a company formerly owned by Dalmatian businessman Jako Andabak, and which was taken over by the development company Eagle Hills, announcing in December an investment of 44.2 million euros in the already impressive Bluesun hotel portfolio.

While investors from Central and Eastern Europe were active investors in the retail sector, domestic institutional investors, pension funds and insurance companies remain important investors in the hotel sector. Together with Valamar, PBZ CO and AZ pension funds are embarking on a new investment cycle in Valamar's hotels on Hvar, Makarska and Rab.

Njuskalo's statistics show that the number of accommodation facilities that were for sale in the first month and a half of this year (6735) is 30 percent higher compared to the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, but the number of ads at the beginning of this year is lower than it was last year.

The fact that the pandemic didn't encourage the sale of hotels is shown by the distribution of these ads by segments, where it can be seen that from 2019 until today, the most which have been sold lie in the Croatian villa market, with a share ranging between 88 and 90 percent.

Hotel sales ads make up only 7 percent, and in 2019 they stood at 8 percent. The number of currently active ads on February the 15th this year was 4476, once again dominated by the Croatian villa market, followed by hotels and the lowest percentage being taken up by boarding houses and hostels. In addition, most hotels, boarding houses, hostels and villas are located on the coast, and about five percent are located in the City of Zagreb.

The highest number of advertisements relate to property located on the coast in Istria County, with the highest sales in Porec, Medulin, Umag and Labin. It is followed by Kvarner, then Zadar County with an 8 percent share. Only two percent of Njuskalo's ads over the previous three years were located down in the Dubrovnik region. In Primorje-Gorski Kotar, most of them are in Crikvenica (18 percent), followed by Opatija and Krk. The largest share of hotels in the number of ads is in Zadar County, standing at 12 percent, while in Istria, the Croatian villa ads dominate.

For more, check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - Over the past 12 months interest in buying a house in Zagreb dropped by 10% while at the same time interest in house purchase in Gorski Kotar, Lika and Istria grew significantly, shows an analysis by the Njuškalo online classified site.

Even though there have been no major changes in asking prices for real estate in Zagreb over the past 12 months, trends related to demand point to changes in customers' interest, which is probably due to a series of earthquakes that hit central Croatia in 2020.

Whereas last year clients increasingly searched for houses in Zagreb, rather than flats, over the past 12 months the interest in buying a house in Zagreb dropped by 10%.

In the entire country the interest in house and flat purchases grew less than one percent on the year but some regions have become much more attractive.

In the central mountainous Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the interest in buying a house rose by 26.75% in the last 12 months, while in Istria it went up by 25%. Ads for properties in Lika-Senj County, too, saw an increase in views of 22.4%.

The average asking price for houses in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County was €1,595 per square metre, in Istria County it was €1,799 and in Lika-Senj County €1,160.

Potential buyers also increasingly searched for houses in Zadar County, as well as in the region of Međimurje, with interest in buying real estate there going up by 11%.

Interest in flats in Zagreb up 5.6%

From February 2020 to February 2021 interest in buying a flat in Zagreb grew by 5.6%, with the average asking price exceeding €2,150 in February 2021.

Among the cities where asking prices have continued growing are Osijek, Zadar and Pula, with Rijeka seeing the highest increase, of 6.4%, for the second consecutive month. Even though Split was previously in this group, it has been stagnating now in terms of the average asking price, Njuškalo says.

Rent in Zagreb down 9%, demand down 6%

Over the past 12 months, the rent on flats in Zagreb dropped by 9% and demand in the first two months of this year dropped 6% compared to the same period of 2020.

The average rent in Zagreb was €539, with most flats for rent having an area of 40-70 square metres, and the only flats to see an increase in the cost of rent on the year were those with an area of 20 square metres. The cost of rent for such flats went up by 3.2% to an average €231 per month.

The cost of rent dropped the most in the downtown area of Zagreb, by 11%, however, the average cost of rent still exceeds €700 a month, the online site says.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of September, 2020, the popular Croatian Njuskalo platform has gone one step further in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) when designing the most efficient solution for its users, offering them a unique solution for submitting ads through the Njuskalo application (app).

With the help of the AI ​​model, the Njuskalo platform camera predicts the average price of an item and immediately places it in the correct category. Submitting ads through the Njuskalo platform's mobile app has never been easier, nor has it ever been quite as sophisticated.

After integrating photo recognition, an in-app plugin that places an item in the correct category immediately after taking a photo now enables Njuskalo users instantly find out how much they can sell their item for, just by clicking "Sell" and pointing the camera at it.

This smart technology, based on trained neural networks, immediately provides the would-be seller with up to date and accurate information on the price range within which the same item is being sold, as well as information on when the item was last sold, when the camera is aimed at the item for sale.

With this move, the Njuskalo platform provides users with more benefits when submitting ads and encourages them to easily submit them through the application. An instant estimate of the value and timing of a sale in just one click motivates both those who are hesitant or those who aren't sure what sort of price they'd like and for how much they should sell their item. This also saves users a lot of time and energy which would otherwise be spent researching the typical prices of the items they're thinking of selling.

The use of photo-recognition in the Njuskalo platform's app, for the integration of which, in addition to Njuskalo, the team of the software company Trikoder is responsible, received the highest user ratings and won awards at prestigious world competitions such as ICMA and Global BIGGIES Award in New York.

The experience gained with this project has now been applied to new improvements, as well as in pushing the boundaries of what user experience means in today's digital products.

The result of applying the AI ​​model within Njuskalo's app is equal to around 50 percent fewer steps, ie significantly faster ad submission, without asking for redundant information or actions from users, which makes it the fastest ad submission application on the market.

Njuskalo's application has so far been downloaded by more than one million and two hundred thousand users and is ranked second on the list of free lifestyle applications in the Play Store (source: Appfigures August 2020), and high fourth on the list of free lifestyle applications in the App Store (source) : appfigures August 2020).

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of July, 2020, the highly popular Njuskalo platform is used as a significant source for accommodation capacities in their business by numerous private renters. Currently, almost 9,000 accommodation units are offered on this, otherwise the largest Croatian marketplace.

Given all the challenges of the current tourist season for renters, Njuskalo recently fully adapted its category for tourism, meaning that advertisers now have separate ads for each accommodation unit with larger photos and prominent facilities such as proximity to the beach, Wi-Fi and parking facilities, the ability to send direct inquiries for each individual apartment or room, an occupancy calendar that can be automatically synchronised with other rental platforms and many other benefits.

New circumstances highlight the need for even faster digital transformation in all economic activities, which this platform was among the first to recognise.

''This year, Croatian renters are focused on Croatian guests more than ever before. With its improved platform, Njuskalo is contributing to the preservation of the tourist season and is helping Croatian renters to fill their accommodation capacities. The tourism section on Njuskalo's website was visited by 204 thousand visitors in June alone, which showcases a large base of interested potential guests,'' said Goran Rubcic, CEO of Njuskalo and Deputy Head of Styria Digital Marketplace.

The new tourism category on Njuskalo enables even better search possibilities for foreign guests. It is shown in as many as eight world languages, and in June alone the platform recorded sixteen percent of visits from abroad, mostly from Germany, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria.

All renters can advertise their accommodation units completely free of charge and thus further promote their apartments, rooms or houses, and Njuskalo further emphasises their accommodation capacities on its Facebook page, which has almost half a million fans. Njuskalo's app has been downloaded half a million times so far.

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As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 3rd of April, 2020, by introducing measures and reducing the prices of its products and services by 50 to 70 percent, the popular Croatian online platform Njuskalo is contributing to maintaining the Croatian economy and preserving the jobs of small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as family farms.

The leading Croatian marketplace platform, Njuskalo, has been the most reliable partner for SMEs for twelve long years now, introducing new trends, leading digital transformation and enhancing business across a wide range of niches through its commitment to digital business.

Recent events have hit the global economy like a tonne of bricks, and coronavirus currently shows little to no sign of letting up. The majority of businesses in Croatia are still currently operating, but in severely constrained conditions with restricted movement that aim to maximise and protect the health of each individual - both employees and contracting authorities.

The Njuskalo platform, as a significant source of sales for various products and services, is used by more than six thousand SMEs and family farms in its operations.

''The measures we've put in place represent a waiver of almost one million euros in revenue, which is a major challenge to our business. However, we believe that at this moment in time, every organisation and every individual in our society must give their maximum to mitigate the effects on the economy as much as possible, and to preserve jobs, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises which are the backbone of the Croatian economy,'' said Goran Rubcic, CEO of Njuskalo and deputy head of Styria Digital Marketplace.

These new and entirely unprecedented economic circumstances put the need for even faster digital transformation in all economic sectors at the very forefront. In doing so, Njuskalo provides its clients with maximum support and advice on how to adapt their business in the shortest possible time.

A virtual tour of properties through WhatsApp, Viber or FaceTime applications has been introduced, as well as the creation and of floor plans, and video tutorials are also being prepared. The ability to search for products for which sellers have already secured the possibility of delivery and open channels for contracting partnerships with delivery services throughout Croatia has been facilitated, and existing web merchants have it available to them to automate their listing on the Njuskalo platform by facilitating item searches by buyer, and concluding the purchase in a fully digital environment.

Croatian-made products, in the current economic environment, must become the first choice of purchase. Family farms are provided with space and a wide availability of their products and special prominence on Njuskalo, and sales begin with a simple OPG registration process and without any financial investment whatsoever.

For landlords wanting to rent out their private accommodation, new possibilities are being intensively prepared to facilitate business operations in the forthcoming period, such as an availability calendar, online confirmation and a payment system for booking accommodation, and automatic guest registration on Croatia's praised e-Visitor system, among other things. Njuskalo will also change its service payment model from "ad placement" to a "success fee", which allows renters to pay for the services Njuskalo has provided them with only after an agreement on accommodation has been realised and billed.

All 150 of Njuskalo's employees, including affiliates of Trikoder Ltd., have been working from the safety of their own homes for twenty days now, maintaining high standards of support and advice, and are available for all inquiries.

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