Croatian property is all about the Adriatic Coast, according to TheMoveChannel.com’s At a Glance infographic, which analyses the country’s real estate just as it joins the EU. What can European buyers learn about their newest neighbour? Split is the place to be, with the Split-Dalmatia County accounting for almost half of Croatia enquiries in the past 12 months.
The infographic, which charts the activity on the property portal over the last year, highlights the link between the country’s tourist industry and housing market, as investors look almost exclusively at real estate located along the country’s southern shore.
The Split-Dalmatia area, famed for its picturesque beauty, is popular with overseas visitors and dominates investor demand: the county was responsible for 44.69 per cent of enquiries, while the city of Split itself is the most sought-after destination in Croatia. Indeed, 15.4 per cent of people searching for property by location looked straight to Split.
Some buyers were torn between Split and another location: the island of Hvar, also located in the Split-Dalmatia County, which accounted for 14.93 per cent of searches. Together, the region’s two most popular destinations accounted for almost one-third (30.33 per cent) of searches on TheMoveChannel.com.
The only other location to attract significant attention was the city of Dubrovnik, which accounted for 1 in 10 (10.33 per cent) searches in the 12 months to June 2013. Indeed, Dubrovnik is another tourist hotspot next to the Adriatic. Its stunning shoreline helped drive up demand for property in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County, making up one quarter (24.15 per cent) of all property enquiries.
The third most popular county in Croatia is Istria, another main destination for holidaymakers, which was responsible for 16.43 per cent of enquiries. Sibenik-Knin County also received 7.33 per cent of enquiries, located next to Split-Dalmatia, while Istria’s neighbour, Primorje-Gorski Kotar, took 4.59 per cent.
All of these counties have one thing in common: the coastline. Areas away from the Adriatic, including the capital Zagreb, attracted less than 1 per cent of enquiries, while counties in the east of the country received no interest from buyers at all.
The At a Glance infographic also depicts buyer behaviour on Google over the past year. In the 12 months to June 2013, buyers searched most for “property in Croatia” and “Croatia property”. The most popular type of property in the country is “houses for sale in Croatia”, occurring in an average of just over 300 searches in each quarter. “Villas for sale in Croatia” occurred in far fewer searches, although they were noticeably more popular than apartments, which featured in no searches.
Searches for “Croatia property” and “property for sale in Croatia” visibly dipped in the fourth quarter of 2012 before rebuilding from the seasonal slowdown in the first half of 2013. Searches for “Property in Croatia”, though, have steadily increased over the past 12 months, rising to be 140 per cent higher in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the third quarter of 2012.
Click here to see the full infographic.
Editor Ivan Radford comments:
“Croatia´s accession to the EU arrives at a point where interest in the country’s real estate is already on the up. The country has become increasingly familiar to people around the world thanks to the TV show Game of Thrones, which is partly filmed in Dubrovnik. But while the programme may see people fighting over who will rule Westeros, TheMoveChannel.com’s At a Glance infographic shows Croatia’s real estate is clearly dominated by one thing: the Adriatic Coast. Like many property markets, Croatia depends heavily on its tourist industry and the beautiful beaches of Split, Hvar and Dubrovnik repeatedly attract holiday home hunters. Indeed, in 2012, they were the places to see property sales increase last year, according to the Croatian Association of Realtors, while the country has lifted restrictions on foreign ownership of real estate for EU citizens to encourage investment further. As wider curiosity continues to grow, Croatia’s accession to EU has arrived at a time where it could significantly boost overseas investment.”
Notes to Editors
Founded in 1999, TheMoveChannel.com is the leading independent website for international property, with than 400,000 listings in over 100 countries around the world, marketed on behalf of agents, developers and private owners.
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