Ljubljana, 10 April (STA) - Property prices in Slovenia continued to grow last year, while the number of deals decreased for the second year running. The Surveying and Mapping Authority (GURS) believes the persistent high price growth could slow down this year and prices could even go down in some parts of the country, but a fast drop in prices cannot be expected.
The number of apartments sold last year dropped between 15 and 20%, while the number of houses sold was down between 20 and 25%, the authority said in its 2023 report on Slovenia's real estate market.
Based on provisional figures, it is estimated that some 8,000 flats and 5,500 houses changed hands last year, in a total value of EUR 2.2 billion. Also factoring in other real estate, between 29,000 and 30,000 real estate sales contracts were signed in total value of EUR 3.1 to 3.2 billion.
The authority attributes the drop in the number of residential real estate transactions to an increase in loan interest rates that affected the demand for mortgages.
The report estimates that some 5,200 building plots were sold last year with a total surface area of 530 hectares. This was also the second consecutive year that the number of building plot deals decreased: the number was 20-25% lower than in 2022 and as much as 40% lower than in 2021.
The highest activity on the market of flats was observed north of Ljubljana, followed by the greater Kranj and Celje areas, as well as Maribor. The least activity was seen in Zasavje. As regards houses, the market activity was highest in Celje, followed by Maribor.
The growth of prices in residential real estate and building plots in 2023 remained high, but it was not as high as the year before, when the figures reached record values.
The prices of houses went up by 9% and the prices of flats by 6% last year. The prices of building plots grew by 8%.
The median price of a flat is estimated to have hit EUR 2,610 per square metre last year, EUR 210 more per square metre than in 2022. In Ljubljana, the median price of flats per square metre increased by EUR 40 to reach EUR 4,000.
Meanwhile, the median price for a house with a garden reached EUR 141,000, EUR 9,000 more than the year before. The median size of sold houses was 168 square metres and the median size of the property around it was 720 square metres. In Ljubljana, an average house with a garden cost an average of EUR 380,000.
Compared to the year before, the gap between the areas with the most expensive property, such as Ljubljana, Gorenjska region and the coast, and areas with the least expensive property, in mostly rural areas, has closed somewhat.
The average prices of flats in Ljubljana were 3.2-times higher than in Bela Krajina region in the south, while the prices of houses were 6.3-times more expensive.
The prices of building plots in Ljubljana were 30-times as expensive as in Prekmurje region in the east, the area where real estate prices are usually the lowest.
Considering the decrease in the number of transactions and record-high prices, it seems that the residential real estate market has peaked and is gradually entering a slow-down, the report says.
GURS estimates that the prices of flats increased by 60% in the past five years, the prices of houses by 46%, and the prices of building plots grew by 54%.
Compared to 2015, when the most recent turnaround in the prices of residential real estate was observed in Slovenia, the prices of flats more than doubled, the prices of building plots increased by 80% and the prices of houses grew by 70%.
GURS expects the number of real estate deals will continue to decrease this year due to high prices and high interest rates, and expects the price growth to slow down.
In some parts of the country, prices may stagnate or even drop, especially on the market of used real estate, but overall no significant drop is expected due to inadequate supply in flats and building plots in the largest cities, above all Ljubljana.
