The sale of apartments in Bosnia and Herzegovina has decreased by one third this year, while lending has fallen by one fifth due to a poor business climate, political crisis, real estate prices in neighboring countries, and citizens’ caution, reported Sarajevo’s ‘Dnevni avaz’ on Tuesday, citing real estate agency sources.
Despite the fact that apartment prices average around 80,000 convertible marks (40,000 euros) and have further decreased by 25 percent compared to the previous year, their demand continues to decline.
Spaho Ljajić, director and owner of the ‘Sigenx’ agency from Sarajevo, claims that the situation in the real estate market in the capital of BiH has been very poor in recent months.
– The political environment has the greatest impact on such a poor situation, but also the real estate prices in the surrounding countries, which are also declining – said Ljajić. He added that banks are not stimulating in the area of housing construction and real estate sales. The director of the ‘Aktido’ real estate chain, Fahrudin Baluković, emphasized that citizens’ purchasing power is extremely low.
– Citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina are increasingly hesitant to purchase real estate, purchasing power is very low, and the borrowing capacity of the average employee is between 70,000 and 80,000 marks – said Baluković. The most expensive apartments in BiH are sold in Sarajevo, Mostar, and Banja Luka.
