Demand for Real Estate on Montenegro’s Adriatic Coast to Fall or Stall in 2009 – C-Bank Survey

Property demand has fallen in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2007, CBCG said in a survey of the domestic property market conducted among the 15 biggest real estate agencies active on the country's Adriatic coast. The results of the survey are posted on the central bank's website. 

Around 64% of the respondents expect property prices at Montenegro's Adriatic coast to fall in the coming year, while 36% believe prices will stagnate at their current levels. None of those polled expects prices to rise next year, the central bank said.

“It is realistic to expect that demand will fall faster than prices in the short term,” CBCG said.

The fall in prices could be influenced by a rise in interest rates, or a halt in their descending trend, the financial market crisis, dwindling foreign investors’ interest, the overvaluation of property, and a shift in investor interest to other Adriatic destinations like Albania.

The average price per square metre of housing real estate was 3,258 euro in Montenegro’s main Adriatic destination, Budva, in the first half of 2008, compared to 940 euro in 2004, the central bank said. The average price per square metre in the capital Podgorica, however, rose by 2.4% year-on-year to 1,738 euro in May. Podgorica is located in central Montenegro.

CBCG issued the following residential property prices for Serbia, Croatia, Albania, Slovenia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Montenegro: