Real estate consultancy Cordon has published its monthly reports based on 500 ads for apartments that were available for lease for Belgrade in February of 2023.
Key takeaways:
- There is an increase in rents across the board compared to October, even in old constructions and in some less popular locations. Asking prices are also on the rise.
- Satellite towns such as Mladenovac, Obrenovac or Pancevo are also showing signs of price growth, and Russian and Ukrainian citizens are also looking for rental properties in towns such as Vrnjacka Banja.
- Cordon believes that the leasing market is directly tied to the sale market, where the last quarter in Belgrade was record-breaking with €860 million spent, which represents a more than 50% growth compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Cordon does not believe that the apartments are bought by foreign residents, but rather by local investment buyers because of the rise in rental prices.
- A huge rise in the number of sold apartments can be interpreted in many different ways, but Cordon believes that it is a reflection of the confidence the investment buyers have in apartments as a safe investment. In that sense, the absolute majority of investment buyers probably do not believe that this rental market is sustainable, but rather see this situation as an opportunity to increase their return on investment for the next several years while foreign citizens are here, while they are not concerned that they will be able to find a tenant later, even at a lesser rent, or resell the apartment at a small profit.
- No statistical evidence exists from the past 15 years where apartment sale prices have gone down (on the market level, not individual projects) nor has there been an extended stretch of time where the rental market has recorded a difficult period, so that could be the explanation for the confidence in apartments as a safe investment.
- Big rises in prices caused by intervening events are more likely followed by big drops, but as long as the cost of “an empty apartment” ( property tax, assessment fees, utilities) is low, Cordon expects to see the same high level of confidence in apartments as investment vehicles.
