Buying a house by the sea in Croatia is a big wish for many. With the general increase in prices, including the increase in real estate prices, our buyers sometimes wonder if it is worth buying a house in Croatia. Also , they are often interested in what to pay attention to when choosing a house by the sea, which locations are more profitable, and are there certain risks when buying property in Croatia?

What are the reasons for buying a house in Croatia?

Croatia is recognized as a wonderful holiday destination with typical Mediterranean charm, good gastronomy, and a handful of options for sightseeing and natural beauty. It is an attractive and popular destination because of its proximity to large European cities, as well as because of the numerous airline routes that lead to Croatia.
Buyers who buy real estate through our Euro Immobilien agency often point out that they feel very relaxed in Croatia, the pace of life is much slower and they can live here without distractions and without a lot of stress. In addition to buying real estate for personal use and vacations, houses in good locations have recently been bought for investment, to preserve the value of money, or speculatively for future sales and profit.
Real estate in Croatia, regardless of the increase in prices, is still more favorable than some other locations in Europe, as well as other Mediterranean countries, and this also attracts a certain number of buyers. If you are thinking about buying a house in Croatia, be sure to look at the offer of houses from our portfolio.

Which locations are attractive for buying property in Croatia?

There is almost no place on the Croatian coast that is not beautiful and attractive. Some places and cities are more popular because of beautiful beaches, some because of gastronomy, some because of culture, and some because of good entertainment and the possibility of an active vacation. So, we can conclude that Croatia has something for everyone, depending on the preferences and habits of the potential buyer of property in Croatia.

For example, Istria is chosen by people who like more developed destinations with lots of modern amenities, which are also close enough to traditional Istrian destinations with typical Istrian restaurants. Opatija, i.e. the Opatija Riviera, is chosen by people who love its elegant architecture and refinement, who love luxury real estate, and at the same time can enjoy in the sea and nature.
The Kvarner islands, among which the island of Krk is the leading one, are traditionally chosen by buyers who love beautiful beaches, who love nature, and at the same time all the modern conveniences that this developed island offers. Crikvenica and the Crikvenica Riviera are chosen by buyers because beautiful beaches and a large number of properties with sea views. Dalmatia is a special story, buyers there choose locations first row to the sea, as well as properties with a view of the sea, paying attention to the micro-location.

Is buying property in Croatia a good investment?

Through the years of work of our agency Euro Immobilien, it has been shown that our customers who bought a few years earlier, only profited. It has not yet happened to us that the value of someone's real estate has fallen. For example, the house with a sea view that we sold to our customers from Germany only three years ago for EUR 430,000 is now worth EUR 680,000.
Of course, inflation should be taken into account, but even without it, the value of that house has increased significantly. If we take into account that real estate, especially vacation homes, can be rented out for tourism in Croatia for at least three to four months of the year, the logical conclusion is that the benefits of owning a home in Croatia are great.

Of course, the owner of the house in Croatia also bears certain costs. There are the costs of maintaining the house, yard, and possibly the pool. In addition, there are utility costs ( electricity , water, garbage collection , utilities) as well as vacation home tax. The amount of these costs depends on the size and type of the building, but it usually does not represent a significant item in relation to the value of the property. In fact, our clients are often positively surprised by real estate prices compared to prices in some other European countries. In the event that you want to rent your holiday home in Croatia, you should also consider the costs of booking services, as well as the costs of cleaning and welcoming guests ( if you do not want to work alone).

When we consider all the pros and cons, our answer to the question of whether it is worth buying a house in Croatia is YES. With the increase in prices, houses in Croatia may become less accessible to a wider clientele, but there will always be interest due to the aforementioned reasons. Therefore, if you are interested in buying a house in Croatia, we recommend buying in the near future, rather than in a few years. Read more about real estate price trends in Croatia HERE.
 

What should you pay attention to when buying a house in Croatia?

1. Location of the property - in which locations do prices increase significantly?

If the profitability of your home purchase in Croatia is important to you, choose your location carefully. The prices of real estate near the sea, as well as those with a sea view, are increasing the most. Recently, it is very profitable to buy a house in a secluded area with a lot of privacy. These houses are really rare on the market and the demand for them will become more and more, and thus their prices.

2. Condition of the property - property for renovation or new construction?

In addition to the location, pay attention to the condition of the property. Sometimes it is good and profitable to buy a house in bad condition and then renovate it, if the purchase price is good. However, be sure to pay attention to possible chronic defects , such as bad static or moisture, because your repair costs could be very high. Ask about the prices of renovation of buildings, which depend significantly on the condition of the property and the standard of decoration you want to achieve . If you are buying a house in a new building, in most cases you will not have any problems, but be sure to inspect in detail quality and functionality of the object before purchase.

3. Documentation of the property and the buying and selling process

In recent years, numerous qualitative improvements have been made in the cadastre and land registers in Croatia. Also, numerous real estates that had certain deviations in the construction in relation to the project documentation were legalized. That is why today most real estate in Croatia has harmonized documentation. However, when buying a house, we definitely recommend hiring a lawyer or a licensed real estate agency (necessary to check in the registry of intermediaries at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce ).

The lawyer and the agency will not only review the real estate documentation, but also professionally manage the entire process of buying and selling real estate. You can read more about the process itself in our article The process of buying real estate in Croatia.

Buying real estate is a decision that most people make only a few times in their life, so it is realistic that you will think carefully about buying a house in Croatia. We hope that with this text we have brought this topic closer to you, clarified some doubts and provided guidelines for the next steps.

If you are still interested in whether it is worth buying property in Croatia, feel free to contact us for help. For all advice, information, and offers related to buying a house in Croatia, we will be glad if you contact us by email at [email protected] or by calling the number 00385 99 444 0660 (Croatian, German, Italian and English language).