Interest among Czechs in real estate abroad is rising, especially in Croatia

Fránek Architects: Three vacation villas in Croatia, Petrčane, realization 2020

Prague – The interest of Czechs in properties abroad has increased by more than half since the beginning of the year. The highest demand is for family houses in Croatia, with people also showing interest in properties in Spain or Italy. This follows from data from a real estate portal available to ČTK. Foreign properties are still only a small part of the offer, but interest in them has been growing in the long term.

"The coronavirus pandemic has influenced demand not only for domestic real estate, which is now more sought after, but also for foreign properties. Between December 2020 and January 2021, we recorded a surge in inquiries about properties abroad, increasing by 62 percent,” said data analyst Šarlota Smutná.

The greatest interest, similar to Czech properties, is in family houses, which account for nearly three-fifths of the total number. For apartments, it is more than a third, while the remainder is made up of commercial properties and land.

"We are observing a boom in interest especially for family houses intended for recreation abroad. There is not much interest in land abroad. In domestic searches, land constitutes more than ten percent of inquiries. Czechs are rather apprehensive about building abroad. The reasons may be different building regulations as well as more demanding transportation concerning oversight of the construction," added the manager of the advertising services team at Sreality.cz, Hana Kořínková.

By locality, there is most interest in family houses in Croatia, where demand has doubled year-on-year. "Czechs appreciate the good travel distance to Croatia and the fact that locals are accustomed to Czechs, and the price levels of both countries are similar," noted Kořínková. As an example from the server's offer, she mentioned a villa in the town of Povlja on the island of Brač with a usable area of 136 m² for 7.1 million crowns.

Clients are also interested in Spain, Italy, or Greece. "Distance from the Czech Republic undoubtedly plays a role. However, it is noteworthy that there is not much interest in properties in Slovakia. Similarly, Germany does not tempt much. Czechs are evidently looking for locations with good access to the sea, which is lacking in the Czech Republic, as well as in Slovakia, Germany, or Poland," further stated Kořínková. According to her, properties are also appearing on the server in countries such as Norway, Egypt, Thailand, Albania, or Tunisia.

Ten foreign countries where Czechs most frequently search for houses for sale:

Country	Share (in pct)
Croatia	25.8
Spain	13.6
Italy	10.3
Greece	6.8
Austria	4.8
Bulgarian	4.8
Slovakia	4.7
Montenegro	3.1
Portugal	2.8
USA	2.8

Source: Sreality.cz