What is going on with property market in Novi Sad?
I have to write this, as I just can not believe what is going on with property market in Novi Sad, Vojvodina, and Serbia in a last few months. It all started in September when we have three foreign investors contacted us to find a land in Novi Sad to build commercial and residential real estate. That was good news after ‘slow summer’ days.
Now, October and November brought twelve more investors from abroad looking to build shopping malls, factories, outlets, high-rise commercial and residential buildings (even one interested in buying whole part of the old town), and so on. Great, isn’t it? Yes, if you look as it is great for the city development, expansion of businesses, more employment opportunities, to name just few. However I ask myself. What is going on, what they (investors) know that I (or we) don’t know?
Not only are investors knocking on our door every week, there is another issue we are concerned with.
Prices of apartments have increased 20 to 30 percent in the last three months. What is more surprising is that there is a lack of one- and two-bedroom apartments for sale, and studio apartments cannot be found anywhere in Novi Sad!
My research yielded even more alarming information: Everyone is waiting for prices to increase MORE, and they have stopped sales of available properties! So, what is going on? Following more research, more talking with the people in real estate businesses, monitoring information from TV, newspapers and magazines, and talking with some administrators and politicians, the conclusion is this:
There is a high demand on available properties in Novi Sad, the whole Vojvodina Province, Belgrade, and the other larger cities in Serbia.
Why? Is it politics? Are we going to enter the European Union very soon? Is it because of the break-up of the former Jugoslav republic and the emergence of the many separate nation-states in the Balkans? Is it because the labor force in Serbia is the most well-trained and works for the lowest wages in Europe? Maybe Serbia is in an advantageous position as the cross-roads to Eastern Europe and Russia.
Or, is it something else not mentioned above…
I didn’t mention that banks are competing with loans for apartment buyers, didn’t touch the issue of current salaries (that are same, or even lower on average than three months ago), unemployment rate, other price increases… If you know the answer, please tell me what is going on? Even though I really like foreign investors coming to our country, I cannot understand that sudden demand in such a short time, and when these prices swell will stop?
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