It is not realistic to expect a drop in housing prices in Montenegro in the coming period, says the president of the Board of the Construction Industry Association of the Chamber of Commerce, Mile Gujic. He adds that it is difficult to forecast what the future pace will be in this matter.
“I think there is no economic logic for real estate prices to fall. It is possible that there will be, and perhaps we already have, a slight drop in demand at this moment, but not a drop in prices. If demand continues to fall, it is possible that prices will remain at the current level and that there will be no dramatic jumps, but I do not believe that prices will fall in the near future”, says Gujic in an interview for the Mina-business agency.
He has referred to the data for the first three quarters of last year, when 1.48 thousand apartments with a total square footage of slightly over 100,000 square meters were under construction. On an annual basis, that is approximately 2,000 apartments.
“That number of built apartments is not enough to satisfy the needs, not only of the citizens of Montenegro, but also of foreign buyers, who greatly contributed to the jump in those prices, in addition to all other factors. So, it is very difficult to predict what will happen, but this is my opinion based on the experiences we have”, Gujic stresses.
According to data from Monstat for the fourth quarter of last year, the average price per square meter in newly-constructed buildings in Montenegro was €1,790, while in Podgorica it was €1.860. On the market, a drop in apartment prices was expected at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year, but that did not happen.
He explains that there are a lot of foreigners in Montenegro and that because of the war in Ukraine, a lot of people from that country came seeking refuge. With their departure, at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, it was expected that real estate prices would fall.
“However, that did not happen. In their place came Turks, Germans, Poles, Israelis. Montenegro, especially the coastal part, has become an attractive market, both for life and for business”, says Gujic.
