New hit in the investment world – Skopje Real Estate Market. Just a few years ago, many people might have struggled to locate Skopje on a map. Fast forward to today Skopje is a huge construction site and it is attracting investors from all corners of the world, but WHY?
In this article I will explain WHY by explaining the uniqueness of the Skopje Real Estate Market compared to the rest of the Southeast region of Europe. I will explain where the opportunists are, current property price trends— both for sale and for rentals, and I will also introduce you with the property buying procedure for forgeries. Let’s dive in.
Table of Contents
Skopje Real Estate Market - Overlook
Let’s first take a look at some key points about the Skopje real estate Market. There are seven of them;
Macedonia is a young and developing country, and it’s at the very own beginning of the development process – essentially this is the most important factor for you.
How did Skopje become a huge construction site? Well, Macedonia is one of the rare countries in the world where people still keep money “stashed” somewhere outside of the Banking system, so the latest shakes in Europe and World pushed people to do something with it, and the obvious choice was real estate.
This spawned construction sites all over the city of Skopje – Skopje Real Estate Market started to boom. Besides Skopje citizens and citizens outside of Skopje, a diaspora (There are approximately 600k Macedonians living outside of North Macedonia), played a mayor role in this. Current reality is that construction companies are having trouble keeping up with the demand. Most of the new constructions will be sold months before they are even completed.Next factor on the list is – Skopje is also a very big hub for foreign students, there are several international universities like Balkan University, and international schools in Skopje like NOVA.
Another advantage is that life costs are super inexpensive in Skopje compared to the rest of Europe, this is something that attracts remote workers from all around Europe in huge quantities.
Location – Skopje is surrounded by mountains that look extraordinarily beautiful regardless if it is a summer or a winter time. With that, Skopje is just a three hour drive from some of the most beautiful beaches in Greece.
Macedonia is also a member of NATO, Council of Europe, WTO and all the other important Global Organizations, and an EU candidate.
Macedonia is ranked 10 of 190 in the ease of doing business index by the World Bank! I am a living example of that, when we moved here two years ago from Kyiv, and about half a year after when I decided to open a company, I spoke with the attorney and the next day I had a company! 24 hours! This is something that is attracting entrepreneurs from all over Europe. I personally know several entrepreneurs from Ukraine, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, and many from Turkey that have quite successful business.
What Separates Skopje Real Estate Market from the Neighboring Capitals?
This is probably the main question now, what is so different about the Skopje Real Estate Market compared to the other neighboring Capitals like Belgrade, Serbia,Tirana, Albania, Sofia, Bulgaria and Athens, Greece. I would break this to a 3 main factors;
Affordability – Significantly lower entry point than the markets mentioned above. Skopje Real Estate Market is at the beginning of development process, Athens & Thessaloniki, Belgrade, Sofia and Tirana are quite ahead of it. Being at the beginning means that it has plenty of more places to grow. You want to be at the beginning of this process, at the beginning of the opportunity, you don’t want to be half way there, or even worse, to be there when everyone else has already arrived – in that case, you are late and you have missed it.
Easiness of process of acquiring the property on Skopje Real Estate Market. Super easy and straightforward no hustle process.
Very friendly people, beautiful nature, well connected with the rest of Europe, fantastic food, quiet and easy going life. It is a fantastic place to live if you want to have an affordable and easy going way of life with quick access to the mountain, sea and all that is covered with the European laws and protected by NATO.
Skopje Real Estate Market - ROI
Calculating ROI can be a quite complicated and demanding process because, what we are talking is about something that happened in the past, and then we compare that with something what might happen in the future, so that is not exact science (No matter what some internet “Oracles” are telling you, no one can predict future with 100%), however if we want to be honest in our calculations, if we take a realistically current standpoint, we can have a general understanding of what we can expect from the future.
The Past of Skopje Real Estate Market
Well if you did buy a property in Skopje even just a several years ago, and you are cashing it out today – you would be super fantastically satisfied. I will make my own personal example; in March of 2022 when my wife and me moved here from Kyiv we lived in the 124 m2 duplex apartment, and current Market value at the time of that property was around 170k, recently it was sold for 260k.
There are other examples as well, like Diamond of Skopje where just two years ago price per square meter was around 1500 euros, and todays it can reach whopping 3000 euros.
The Present of Skopje Real Estate Market
Is it the right time to buy? Probably yes, simply in the long run there is no such moment as a bad moment, and Skopje Real Estate Market is at the beginning of its momentum
The Future of Skopje Real Estate Market
When I first came here less than two years ago I saw immersive potential in Tourism in Macedonia. Tourism potential = Real Estate Potential. From one side, tourists drive demand for short term rentals, and demand for short term rentals drives the increase in long-term rental prices and lowers down the supply of long term rentals. Both options could lead to potentially high returns. Fantastic examples for that are Athens and Belgrade which are capital cities of neighboring countries.
My personal opinion is that Macedonia at the moment is using no more than 10% of its full potential. Country is a fantastic mix of diversity, natural beauty packed with mountains, and lakes, and at the moment some of the lowest real estate prices per square meter compared to the rest of Europe.
I don’t know a country in Europe that can offer such a natural beauty that is not fully used, also I don’t know a country in Europe that is at the beginning of development, and I have been around. If that is not an opportunity, I don’t know what is.
Best Locations to Buy Property in Skopje
Not every area of the city is equal, location is the key in any real estate investment and Skopje Real Estate Market is no exception, the best neighborhoods for buying a property at my personal opinion are:
Skopje Center / Debar Maalo / Karpos
Aerodrom
Taftalidze / Kozle
Vodno / Kapistec
Vlae / Novo Lisice / Hrom / Crnice / Przino / Kisela Voda
Skopje Real Estate for Sale
The Skopje Real Estate Market offers quite a lot of options to buy. From houses to apartments to residential buildings, villas, luxurious properties etc… I will keep focus on two most popular ways to invest in real estate.
Houses for Sale is Skopje
Houses on the Skopje Real Estate Market can go anywhere for 150-200k (These aren’t representative properties at all) to a couple of million in the Vodno and Bardovci area. However, they could be quite difficult to liquidate, and it can be a bit hard to rent them at the reasonable price compared to the amount that was paid for it, because of that I wouldn’t consider them as a sound investment.
The only exception would be maybe, just maybe, area of Vodno where embassies are located, buying something in that area (In the last two years I haven’t seen one property for sale there) would maybe made sense, however Skopje Real Estate Market probably would not the best location for investing between 1 to 2 million euros in single property, there are many locations globally where that would be the right move.
Apartments for Sale in Skopje
On the other hand, Skopje Real Estate Market apartments are quite a different story. In most of the cases they are quite easy to liquidate, easy to rent out. We also put guarantees for this so you can feel more comfortable working with us. We can do property management for you, we can rent an apartment from you log term for up to 4 years under certain conditions.
Here is our List of Apartments for Sale in Skopje, however before starting to browse I strongly advise you to read our article about The Best Neighborhood to Buy a Property in Skopje. I broke down for each neighborhood what type of apartment you should look for, compared with appreciation and rental potential. Or you can just simply call us and we will give a detailed explanation about everything that you might be interested in.
Skopje Real Estate Rentals
Houses Rentals
They typically attract high value tenants, diplomatic personnel and foreign companies’ top management staff. Maybe not wise as an investment (ROI quite low, difficult to liquidate), however definitely top choice if you are looking for rental. Here is the complete list of all our houses available for Rent in Skopje.
Apartment Rentals
What would be the best places to rent apartments? It will be different for foreigners than for the local population, however the difference is not so drastic.
Skopje Center / Debar Maalo / Karpos (Popular for everyone for any type of property)
Aerodrom (Great demand among local population, biggest multiplicity in Skopje)
Taftalidze / Kozle (Great demand among local population, not so much among foreigners. They chose this areas as a 4-5 choice)
Vodno / Kapistec (Vodno, high demand for luxury properties among foreigners, Kapistec is more for local population with families)
Vlae / Novo Lisice / Hrom / Crnice / Przino / Kisela Voda (Close to no interest from foreigners, in demand for local population – Areas that are on the lower side of the price range)
How Can Foreigners Buy Property in Skopje?
Easy. It’s a pretty much straight forward procedure. There is only one thing that Macedonia has that is called “Reciprocity Law” meaning that if Macedonian citizens are allowed to own a property in a certain country, the citizens of that certain country are allowed to own a property in Macedonia as well. However, if the citizens of Macedonia are not allowed to own property in a certain country, then the citizens of that certain country are not allowed as well to own the property in North Macedonia. This “problem” can be solved as well.
Here is the article that goes through the step by step process of How Foreigners Can Buy Property in Macedonia.
For the End
Since the beginning of time investing in real estate was the chosen way of probably every wealthy individual that had ever lived on the planet to store, and grow wealth. The most important factor was always to be the first on the growing market, and Skopje Real Estate Market might just be that for you.
Skopje Real Estate Market offers fantastic potential, it is at the beginning of the development and it’s there for you to take it.
Best regards,
Ivan Radisavcevic
SQUARE – CEO
Disclaimer:
The information provided on this blog is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute professional financial, legal, or real estate advice. The content is based on personal opinions and experiences and may not apply to your specific situation. Every situation has its own unique aspects. While we strive for accuracy, we do not guarantee the completeness or timeliness of the information provided. For personalized advice, please consult with us directly. Please note that this blog advertises our real estate agency and its services in general and is not tailored to specific needs.
