The number of apartments planned for construction in June this year is 57 percent lower compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
Compared to the end of the previous year, the number of apartments planned for construction is 54 percent lower.
Thus, in this data, it is stated that the number of construction permits issued in June of this year compared to the same period last year was lower by 26.6 percent, and compared to the end of last year by 29.3 percent.
A total of 293 construction permits were issued, of which 219 were for new construction and 74 were for civil engineering.
It is emphasized that the construction of 423 apartments is planned in the high-rise building, namely 19 one-room, 119 two-room, 123 three-room, 100 four-room and 71 five-room apartments.
Senka Gataric Vasilic, owner of the Banja Luka agency “Euro-agent”, stated that the main reason for the reduced housing construction in BiH is market saturation.
“There is another reason, and that is the high prices. The local population, and young people, can hardly afford apartments at these prices, that is, the growth of their salaries does not follow the growth of real estate prices, i.e. apartments. At least that’s how it is in Banja Luka. People from abroad who bought during the previous years then increased the growth of housing construction, so the market became saturated,” Gataric Vasilicexplained.
When asked whether the lower prices of apartments could be due to weaker demand, she replies that it is very difficult to predict.
“Prices are currently stagnant, but whether they will rise or fall is very difficult to forecast. Everything depends on the interest of buyers, if there is a high demand, the prices will be higher, if the demand decreases, then it is normal for the prices to stagnate or possibly fall. Investors sense the level of demand and interest, that’s why less is being built,” emphasized Gataric Vasilic.
Predrag Mlinarevic, a professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Istocno Sarajevo, pointed out that the analysis of these statistical data should take into account two things.
“The first refers to the fact that the boom in demand in the previous two years led to a greater number of building permits being issued, but due to labor problems, a number of deadlines were missed, and that the buildings are being completed this year as well. The second fact refers to the period of high inflation when savings in banks were unprofitable due to the negative real interest rate, so investments in real estate were forced,” said Mlinarevic.
According to him, with the fall in inflation, this part of the demand for real estate has declined.
“What is currently on the scene is ”safe” construction, which implies pre-sold apartments. For this reason, we cannot expect a drop in apartment prices, but rather their stagnation,” explained Mlinarevic, N1 writes.
E.Dz.
