Property Purchases in Croatia Drastically Decline

(Patria) - Apartment prices are rising, and sales have been falling in Zagreb for the fourth consecutive year.

Compared to last year, 17 counties in Croatia recorded a decrease in the number of apartment and flat sales, according to the Real Estate Market Review for 2025, a publication by the Institute of Economics and the Ministry of Construction presented yesterday.

In 2025, 20,293 apartment and flat transactions were completed, with a total value of 3.45 billion euros.

The average value of one transaction was 170,014.3 euros. Compared to 2024, there were 17.3 percent fewer transactions, and the value of sold apartments and flats decreased by 9.8 percent.

The median price of an apartment or flat in 2025 was 2,587 euros per square meter, indicating that half of the apartments were sold at this price or lower, while the other half were sold at this price or higher.

The largest year-on-year decrease in the number of apartment and flat sales was recorded in Šibenik-Knin County (-47 percent), Bjelovar-Bilogora County (-41 percent), and Istria County (-39.1 percent).

The authors find the data interesting that almost all coastal counties recorded a significant drop in apartment and flat turnover: Split-Dalmatia County (-29 percent), Dubrovnik-Neretva County (-20 percent), and Zadar County (-15.2 percent).

Growth was achieved in only four counties: 17.1 percent in Međimurje County, followed by Karlovac County (17 percent), Krapina-Zagorje County (12 percent), and Koprivnica-Križevci County (9.5 percent).

The City of Zagreb has recorded a year-on-year decrease in apartment sales for the fourth consecutive year – in 2022 it was 4.2 percent, in 2023 it was 13.5 percent, in 2024 it was 5.4 percent, and in 2025 it was 10.5 percent.

Five percent of apartments in 2025 were sold for 901 euros per square meter or less, while for the five percent most expensive square meters, the price was 4.9 times higher, amounting to 4,428 euros per square meter, meaning that the five percent most expensive apartments on the Croatian real estate market were sold at this price or higher.

The highest median price per square meter of an apartment was recorded in Split-Dalmatia County at 3,333 euros, followed by the City of Zagreb with a median price of 2,917 euros, and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County with a price of 2,824 euros.

Median prices per square meter of apartments above 2,000 euros were also recorded in Istria County (2,743 euros), Zadar County (2,598 euros), Dubrovnik-Neretva County (2,380 euros), Šibenik-Knin County (2,350 euros), Lika-Senj County (2,219 euros), Krapina-Zagorje County (2,164 euros), and Zagreb County (2,083 euros).

In contrast to 2024, when the difference in the median price per square meter of apartments between the county with the highest median price (Split-Dalmatia County) and the county with the lowest median price (Požega-Slavonia County) was 1,941 euros, in 2025 this difference increased to 2,241 euros.

For the price of one square meter of an apartment in Split-Dalmatia County, one could buy approximately 3 square meters in Požega-Slavonia County.

The City of Zagreb stands out with by far the largest number of apartment sales, 7,616 or 37.5 percent of the total number of apartments, followed by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County with 2,422, Split-Dalmatia County with 1,569, and Zadar County with 1,535 completed transactions.

The lowest price growth for apartments/flats was recorded in Koprivnica-Križevci County (7.3 percent), Virovitica-Podravina County (16.3 percent), and the City of Zagreb (8.7 percent).

On the other hand, a decrease in the median price in 2025 was recorded in Dubrovnik-Neretva County (-7.8 percent) and Varaždin County (-0.6 percent).

The highest median price of an apartment/flat per square meter last year was recorded in Split, at 4,068 euros, followed by Dubrovnik (3,921 euros), Opatija (3,830 euros), Lovran (3,615 euros), Malinska-Dubašnica (3,587 euros), Umag (3,552 euros), Punat (3,539 euros), and Baška (3,523 euros).

Regarding Zagreb, the highest median price per square meter of an apartment, 3,390 euros, was recorded in the cadastral municipality of Centar, followed by Stenjevec Sjever with a median price of 3,350 euros and Maksimir with a median price of 3,287 euros.

Median prices of apartments/flats higher than 3,000 euros per m2 were recorded in a total of 14 municipalities, while in 21 municipalities the price ranged between 2,001 and 3,000 euros per m2.

Within this range, the highest price was achieved in Zapruđe Otok (2,946 euros per m2), and the lowest in Sesvete (2,061 euros per m2).

The largest price growth was recorded in Donja Dubrava (40 percent), Gornji Vrapče (37.1 percent), Gornji Stenjevec (36.9 percent), Vrapče (24.3 percent), Dubrava (24.1 percent), and Stenjevec Jug (20.1 percent).

Finally, the fact that only 5 percent of apartments in Zagreb were sold last year for 4,364 euros or more highlights the importance of considering achieved prices, not asking prices, when looking at real estate market trends.

One wouldn't think so when looking at advertisements where asking prices for dilapidated old buildings in Zagreb are routinely over 4,000 euros per square meter, writes Jutarnji list.