In the first half of the year, new apartments are 4.1 percent more expensive than last year

The average price per square meter of a new apartment in Croatia in the first half of this year, regardless of the seller, was 2,219 euros, which is 4.1 percent higher than in the same period last year, according to data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (DZS).

This means that buyers had to spend almost two full average net salaries for one square meter of a new apartment, which was 1,150 euros for June at the national level in Croatia.

The situation is very similar in Zagreb: the average price per square meter of a new apartment in the capital in the first half of the year was 2,623 euros, while the average Zagreb salary was 1,303 euros. Prices in Zagreb are 6.9 percent higher than last year.

In other settlements, the average price per square meter of a new apartment in the first half of the year was 1,916 euros, with a year-on-year increase of 9.7 percent. Thus, buyers had to pay an amount 67 percent higher than the average Croatian salary for one square meter.

The situation is even less favorable when the average salary is compared to the average price per square meter of new apartments sold by commercial companies and other legal entities, excluding the program of socially encouraged housing construction (POS). This price in Croatia in the first half of this year was 2,326 euros, which is 6.8 percent higher compared to the same period a year earlier, according to DZS data.

In Zagreb, the price per square meter increased by 6.9 percent to 2,633 euros, while in other settlements it rose by 13.8 percent to 2,048 euros.

The average price per square meter of POS apartments in the first half of this year was 1,305 euros and was 1.3 percent higher compared to the first six months of last year. This is roughly at the level of the average Zagreb net salary. Meanwhile, in Zagreb, the price decreased by 3.6 percent to 1,005 euros, while in other settlements it jumped by 0.5 percent to 1,313 euros.

DZS data also shows that in the first half of 2023, 2,353 new apartments were sold in Croatia, of which 999 were in Zagreb and 1,354 in other settlements. Of the total number of sold new apartments, 250 were POS apartments, while 2,103 were sold by commercial companies and other legal entities.

Compared to the second half of last year, prices of new apartments were 0.8 percent lower. At the same time, prices of new apartments were four percent lower than in the second half of last year, and in other settlements, 1.5 percent.