Croatia sees rising preference for real estate investment

European households are increasingly prioritizing real estate as a primary investment vehicle, a trend particularly pronounced in Croatia. Driven by high home-ownership rates and strong price growth, Croatian residential property prices rose by 16.1% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2025. In Zagreb, the average price for newly built apartments reached €3,518 per square metre in the first half of 2026, an 18.9% increase over the previous year.

Croatia maintains one of the highest home-ownership rates in the EU, with Eurostat reporting that approximately 91% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing in 2024, compared to an EU average of 68%. This preference is bolstered by a robust tourism sector and high demand for coastal properties. However, rising prices have led to a weakening in the number of property transactions, suggesting barriers to market entry for new buyers.

This concentration of wealth in property contrasts with the investment structures in the United States, where households hold a larger share of assets in stocks and market-oriented instruments. Analysis from the European Central Bank indicates that approximately 80% of households in the eurozone hold no stocks or similar financial instruments, with a significant portion of private wealth remaining in low-yield cash and bank deposits.