The real estate market in Montenegro is still active: house prices will not fall in 2025

The real estate market in Montenegro is still active, and real estate prices are showing stability.

Veslen Dragas, President of the Association of Real Estate Agencies of Montenegro, explains in an interview for the Pobeda newspaper that, despite periodic speculation in the media, we cannot expect prices to fall in the short term.

According to him, the real estate market does not immediately respond to fluctuations, but requires a longer period of reduced demand in order for a significant drop in prices to occur. Dragas notes that currently there are exclusive locations in Montenegro, such as Tivat, Herceg Novi and Budva, where prices reach 10,000 euros per square meter. High demand

In addition to market trends, Dragash points out the key problems faced by the real estate market - disloyal competition and the lack of a regulatory framework that would protect buyers, sellers and agencies. Dragash also reveals that a possible decrease in rental rates is expected if the interest of Russians and Ukrainians in real estate continues to decline, but emphasizes that a significant drop in apartment prices in Montenegro is unlikely while demand is still high. Prices, he said, mainly depend on economic factors such as inflation, interest rates and the purchasing power of citizens.

Real estate prices do not immediately respond to market fluctuations. A longer period of declining demand must pass in order for real estate prices to fall. There are some cases when sellers reduce the price of real estate, but we cannot say that there has been a drop in real estate prices. Unfortunately, inaccurate data often appears in the media, which journalists receive from our colleagues who are not engaged in market analysis, which often misleads the public. The media also cites data received from the Statistics Department - Monstat and the Central Bank of Montenegro on the total turnover, quantity and type of real estate sold, which these institutions do not have, Dragas said, adding that the CBCHG has data on real estate transactions obtained on the basis of collected data from domestic and international payment turnover.
Based on these data, we have inaccurate statistics on the total turnover of real estate, since some transactions are carried out in cash. The average price of a new apartment published by Monstat is not an indicator of prices in the real estate market. I emphasize that the prices indicated in the media also do not reflect current prices in the real estate market. We hope that in the near future, together with government agencies, we will work on combining data from the Tax Administration, Monstat, CBCHG and other government agencies in order to have relevant data," Dragash emphasizes.
He also tells us where the highest real estate prices are now.

The most expensive real estate in Montenegro is located in the exclusive resort areas of Tivat, Herceg Novi and Budva. They belong to the premium real estate segment and cannot be compared with other real estate. If we talk about real estate located on exclusive plots or by the sea, their prices reach 10,000 euros per square meter," Dragash emphasizes.
He considers the lack of legislative regulation and disloyal competition to be the main problems in the activities of real estate agencies.

In Montenegro, a large number of realtors illegally mediate real estate transactions, which harms the state, buyers and sellers are not protected when buying and selling real estate, and real estate agencies do not have equal business conditions. We expect the adoption of a law on mediation in real estate transactions and rentals soon, which will bring order to this area," Dragash says, adding that since the beginning of the year there has been a significant decrease in interest in renting real estate from Russians and Ukrainians, but so far there has been no significant reduction in rental rates.
In the near future, we can expect a decrease in rental rates if this trend continues," Dragash says.
As for real estate in Podgorica, there are no significant changes.

As long as we have high demand, we cannot expect apartment prices to decrease. The market has been on an upward trajectory over the past three years, so this year we definitely cannot expect a decrease in apartment prices," our interlocutor believes, adding that real estate prices are most influenced by the economy, that is, the solvency of buyers, inflation, interest rates on loans, public housing, laws, demographics and other factors.