More and more foreigners are deciding to buy real estate in Serbia. Bankers even give housing loans to non-residents, but with slightly higher interest rates than to Serbian citizens.
A larger offer of real estate and attractive locations makes Belgrade’s new building attractive to foreigners as well. It is true that they mostly buy for cash, but of course the bankers did not miss that increased interest, so they have already come out with a special offer of housing loans for non-residents.
“As for the loan documentation, it is more or less the same for our clients as well as for Serbian citizens who apply here in Serbia, we assess the risk based on income, based on employment contracts. As for securing the loan, it is real estate that clients buy with of course the obligatory participation,” states Velibor Savic, director of Api banka.
The Covid crisis does not seem to have had much of an impact on housing construction – real estate turnover rose by two percent last year, and the volume of construction by about eight percent. And the prices per square meter are rising, and three out of four sold apartments are being bought for cash.
“It is regulated by law and it is regulated that only countries that have reciprocity with the Republic of Serbia, its citizens can be real estate owners in Serbia. Of the countries where there is no reciprocity and where it is not possible to buy apartments, are Macedonia, Iran, India … At this moment, between 10 and 15 percent of our tenants are non-residents,” states Bojan Bulatovic, sales director of “Belgrade Waterfront”.
Real estate abroad is mostly bought by Russians and Chinese. Russians, for example, can now take out a loan in Serbia as well, under conditions similar to those they receive in their country, and we also offer luxury apartments tailored to their needs.
All this raises the question of whether it is realistic, with the current regulations, to expect our cities to take on the diversity of the population of New York or London.
“We do not have a regulation that regulates obtaining a residence whose investment exceeds a certain amount. 70% of developing and developed countries in the world have such regulations. So many foreigners decide to buy and invest in real estate in those countries because they are interested in having a residence in order to send children to school or to go for treatment. This especially applies to people from countries that come from the third world,” explains Nenad Djordjevic, president of the board of “Cluster” Real Estate.
The Greeks have a program called a golden visa that guarantees permanent residence to those who invest more than 250,000 euros in real estate. Americans guarantee permanent residence for buyers of real estate worth millions and more dollars, RTS reports.
