During the state of emergency, the volume of the real estate market in Serbia decreased by about 70 percent compared to before March 16, and the Serbian real estate market was worth slightly more than 255 million euros during the state of emergency, which is half less than in the same period last year.
According to the data of the Republic Geodetic Authority (RGZ), real estate prices did not fall, and there is a lower percentage of real estate purchased in cash than it was before the state of emergency, while on the other hand the percentage of apartment turnover increased in relation to all types of real estate.
From the beginning of the year until the introduction of the state of emergency, the real estate market was on the rise, so the number of registered contracts was 11 percent higher than in the same period last year.
However, as a state of emergency ensued, that percentage moved in the opposite direction.
“If we compare March this year with March 2019, we see that the percentage has fallen and that the market volume is 28 percent lower than last year. In April, the market volume fell by 80 percent. The state of emergency, which we compare with the same period last year, shows that the real estate market has decreased by 68 percent,” says the head of the Department for assessment and management of real estate values in RGZ, Ana Djurkovic.
The value of the real estate market, she says, was half lower during the state of emergency than it was last year in the same period, and that figure was 255 million euros in that period.
Of that amount, about 60 percent comes from apartments sold.
When it comes to the method of payment, according to the data from the real estate register of the purchase and sale contracts of the RGA, the payment in cash decreased compared to the period before the state of emergency.
That time showed that the purchase in cash in relation to the purchase from the loan was almost equal to “half-half”, which in relation to the previous period shows that a smaller number of citizens paid in cash.
The real estate market has slowed down in the previous two months, it almost did not exist, explains Milic Djokovic from the Old Royal Nekretnine agency, but states that buyers and sellers are calling and inquiring again.
“I hope it will continue where we left off. It is interesting that we may have a better May this year than we had last year because a lot of work started in February and March and has not been completed, so that will create the image that it’s great that everything started”, explains Djokovic.
However, he says that it is realistic that June may be slightly weaker in terms of sales and purchases, and that it will only be possible to say in July and August whether the market has returned to the old path before the state of emergency.
Given that loans are still cheap, Djokovic believes that the market will function because citizens still have the need to sell and buy real estate.
The one who decided to buy or sell an apartment, house, shop or land, Djokovic is convinced, will continue to work on that job now that things are returning to their previous state.
According to the RGA, 7,455 real estate sales contracts were signed in Serbia in March, while 2,178 were signed in April.
From May 1 to 8, 754 contracts on real estate transactions in Serbia were signed, RTV reports.
