The rise in property prices and the “invasion” of foreign buyers threaten to prevent citizens of Montenegro and their children from being able to buy a home in their own country in the future, according to Nemanja Pavićević, a journalist at RTCG specializing in the real estate market. RTCG sources from real estate agencies state that out of 10 calls for buying an apartment, eight come from foreigners. They note that there are fewer Russians and Ukrainians and more Turks, Germans, and French people interested in real estate in Montenegro.
According to the latest data from Monstat, in September, the average price per square meter of a newly built apartment in Montenegro was 1,647 euros, which is 300 euros more than at the beginning of 2023.
Pavićević notes a slight decline in the number of buyers from Ukraine and Russia, while there is an increase in those from Germany, France, and Poland.
There is a significant risk that citizens will soon become strangers in their own country due to geopolitical situations and rising prices, making it difficult for locals to purchase real estate. This is primarily done by foreigners. Regarding foreigners, besides the known ones like Russians, Turks, and Ukrainians, there is an increasing number of Germans, French, and Polish individuals interested in Montenegrin properties, says Pavićević.
He believes that a decline in prices is unlikely.
No one knows how this will be in the future, but as long as inflation persists, prices will continue to rise, according to Pavićević. He believes that the state should have considered its citizens and regulated this area differently.
If there is already an influx of foreigners and rising prices, not everyone can afford to pay a three percent sales contract tax. Perhaps they should have imposed a 50, 80, or 100% tax on them to protect our people in some way, Pavićević suggests.
Prices will stagnate after New Year
The executive director of the real estate agency TipTop, Dragana Kovačević Nikčević, says that the average price of an apartment in Podgorica is 1,800 euros per square meter.
The most expensive apartment in our offer is offered at a price of 2,400 euros per square meter, while the cheapest is 1,450 euros. It all depends on the number of rooms and the size of the apartment, furnishings, and the neighborhood, she says.
According to Monstat data, in 2023, out of 632,083 inhabitants, 365,139 apartments were recorded. This is about 50,000 more apartments than in the last census of 2011 (316,083). At that time, there were about seven thousand fewer inhabitants, and the average square meter of an apartment cost 1,307 euros.
She explains that in the last three to four months, the number of clients from Russia and Ukraine has decreased, while citizens of Turkey mostly contact them, mainly for renting apartments and business premises. She does not predict a decline in prices but also not an increase.
We believe that prices will stagnate after the New Year because there was indeed a significant jump in prices in the past year, and they are already quite high, says Kovačević Nikčević.
According to Monstat data, in 2023, about 50,000 more apartments were recorded compared to the last census in 2011 when the average square meter of an apartment was over 300 euros cheaper.
In the past, money was tied to gold bars, to gold. Today, this is no longer the case. Today, both in Europe and around the world, we have more money printing, which causes inflation. I think that in the Balkans, the highest inflation is with us, actually in Montenegro, which has all the elements of hyperinflation. People are doing this, in a smart way, in an effort to retain the value of money, they buy real estate. Real estate and gold are the best trade, so it is expected, says Pavićević.
