Square meter in Montenegro increasingly expensive: Up to EUR 3,000 in Podgorica, EUR 3,500 on the coast

The construction boom in Montenegro is not abating. According to Monstat data, the value of construction works in the second quarter of this year was 6.3 percent higher than in the same period last year.

The growth in construction activity is also accompanied by high real estate prices. The average price of a square meter of a new apartment in Montenegro in the second quarter was 2,557 euros.

In Podgorica, the average price was 2,510 euros per square meter, on the coast 2,838 euros, in the central region 2,131 euros, while in the north the average square meter of a new apartment cost 2,145 euros.

Despite the high prices, demand for real estate remains high, and apartments, according to agents, are often sold before construction is completed.

The President of the Construction Committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, Mile Grujic, says that the growth in the value of construction works does not only apply to building construction.

– This value of completed construction works does not only apply to building construction, to the construction of residential, residential-commercial buildings. It also applies to all others, and to civil engineering above all. I am thinking of road infrastructure – said Grujic.

However, a significant part of construction activity relates to residential construction. On the coast, real estate is mainly purchased by foreign citizens, while in Podgorica, domestic citizens are more dominant among buyers.

Real estate agent Haris Osmanagic states that prices in Podgorica are currently around 2,500 euros per square meter, depending on the location.

– This year, prices are at a level of around 2,500 euros per square meter, depending on the location. The City Quarter reaches prices of up to 3,000 euros per square meter – said Osmanagic.

On the coast, prices are even higher.

– In Tivat, you could once buy an apartment for 1,700, 1,800 euros per square meter, and today it is almost impossible to find a building under 3,500 euros per square meter. The situation is similar in Budva. Currently, the most construction is taking place in Bar – said Osmanagic.

The construction sector is also facing an increase in the price of fuel and construction materials, as well as a chronic shortage of labor.

Grujic warns that the increase in the price of diesel additionally affects the prices of construction products.

– If the price of diesel increases by 10 percent, this effect doubles when it comes to products that are obtained from oil. And indeed, in the coming period, if this situation caused by the war in the Middle East does not calm down, a further increase in the prices of construction products can be expected. So far, in the last four-five months, we have had a significant increase – said Grujic.

However, RTCG’s interviewees do not expect a significant increase, nor a decrease in real estate prices by the end of the year.

Osmanagic believes that there is no room for a large increase, but also for a decrease in prices.

– I don’t think there is room for too much growth. I think it is unlikely that there will be a decrease, because the market logic is such that once prices increase, they hardly return to the old level – said Osmanagic.

He adds that there is also a fear among buyers that Montenegro’s entry into the European Union could further affect real estate prices.

– What I feel when I talk to clients is that most of them also have some fear of entering the European Union and that the same thing that happened to, for example, neighboring Croatia will happen to us, that is, that these prices will go even higher. I often say that with prices we are almost certainly already as if we were in the European Union – said Osmanagic.

The interviewees' estimates are that, after Montenegro’s entry into the European Union, real estate prices could be at least 20 percent higher.

Mile Grujić

Haris Osmanagić

real estate market

construction boom

value of construction works

real estate demand

price of square meter

apartment prices