The total transaction volume for Q4 2022 in Belgrade was €826.4 million, which represents an increase of around 53% compared to the overall amount of €541.2 million which was registered in the same quarter for the previous year. This is also a record-breaking quarter for the total amount spent on apartments in one quarter.

Key conclusions:

• It seems from the statistical parameters that the balance was shifted in favour of investment buyers for several reasons. 75% of all transactions were made in cash while 25% were credit buyers. In most quarters around 70% are cash transactions. There were more transactions in new construction compared to old buildings, which is generally not the case, and investment buyers are for the most part attracted to new construction. The fourth quarter is a period when an increase in transactions from diaspora buyers is registered when they are returning home for the holidays.
• A record transaction volume was recorded for garage spaces: €60 million in Belgrade and Novi Sad. Garages have become an investment product for several reasons: the total ticket price for an apartment in Belgrade is becoming too high and there is plenty of investors who have 50-100K to invest in real estate and garages do not require any re-investment into upkeep.
• It is clear that the increase in volume is in some part caused by higher rental rates, as a result of the influx of Russian and Ukrainian residents. It is not clear if some of these investors think that this is a permanent state of affairs and that they will recoup their investment in 10-12 years or if they understand that this situation is temporary and the return on investment will be higher only for some time, while this situation lasts. Either way, it is evident that they feel confident that they will always be able to resell their apartments for the same or higher price, and that they will always be able to find a tenant, so their confidence in real estate in Belgrade is unshaken and the new figures confirm that.
• It will be interesting to see if the developers will adjust to these trends and build additional levels of garage considering that with these garage prices, they can make a profit on -2 and -3 levels, which was not the case before. More parking spaces will allow them to create a higher number of smaller apartments since zoning requires a certain number of parking spaces per apartment.