A house near Đakovo was sold for just 8,000 euros.
The real estate bubble, that began to inflate as a result of the disturbances on the real estate market which were created after the start of the recession in 2008 and its effects on the construction industry, has been increasingly showing the signs of bursting. Another blow came from the inability of loan servicing and numerous assets being sold at auctions as a consequence. At the same time, selling the property in these hard economic times is the only way for many to come up with some money, reports Glas Slavonije on August 2, 2016.
For instance, in a small real estate market such as the one in Đakovo and its suburban areas in Slavonia, an area with 30,000 inhabitants, about 500 houses and flats have been put on the market. This staggering figure came from Vlado Rechner, the Đakovo area real estate agent and the Rehnšiber Agency owner, who said that their sales have recorded a slight increase during the last month and a half. The reason – homes are being sold for next to nothing! Rechner described the most recent example.
“In Piškorevac, the most developed suburb of Đakovo near the very centre of the town, our agency sold a house for 8,000 euros! The house is older, and with a garden area of 700 square metres. Initially, the owner sought 12,000, and then 9,000 euros. Finally, he reduced it to 8,000 euros”, explained Rechner. “By comparison, some time ago with that kind of money you could have bought a plot of land for construction or a cottage. In Đakovo, a plot could have been bought for 20,000 to 30,000 euros, and now the price has dropped to 10,000 or 15,000 euros”, he added.
However, people are much more interested in buying finished houses in order to avoid paying extra for outlets, utilities, etc. Estimates show that the purchase of a finished home is 30-50 percent cheaper than building a new one. Simply put, houses are cheaper than apartments and this is why they sell better. “People forget that they are buying the property requiring constant maintenance, investments, repairs… while apartments are easier to maintain”, Rechner said. Currently, the price of a house in the town ranges from 35,000 to 40,000 euros.
