Second-home residences in the focus

Global health crisis has brought some new trends on the residential market in Belgrade and Serbia. Namely, lockdown and travel restrictions reduced the quality of life for the residents of the city, due to the limited outdoor activities and traveling. New trends and organizational changes, as well as employees’ new habits regarding flexible office spaces triggered an increasing demand for second-home properties.

In addition to already recognized mountain destinations such as Kopaonik, Zlatibor and Divcibare, the investors’ focus on luxury second-home complexes increased, particularly in the suburban municipalities and peripheral settlements in the vicinity of Belgrade. A growing demand was noted for locations situated on the slopes of Avala and Kosmaj mountains, as well as Beli potok and Ripanj settlements in Vozdovac Municipality, Vrcin in Grocka, Ralja in Sopot Municipality, as well as settlements within Barajevo Municipality, etc.

Furthermore, the purchase of individual cottages and houses was stronger in the locations on the slopes of Fruska gora Mountain, on the outskirts of Belgrade, but also elsewhere in Serbia, i.e., in settlements such as Indjija, Beocin, Sremski Karlovci, Irig etc, due to its closeness to the large cities which can be used as a vacation destination several times during the year.

So-called “Second Home” complexes benefit from the location which provides natural environment and privacy, as well as an escape from the city traffic and pollution. Considering that these projects are distanced from the urban settlements, numerous additional amenities within these communities are commonly envisaged. In addition to swimming-pool, kids’ playground, corresponding large green areas, video surveillance and professional security, additional benefit will be professional maintenance which includes maintenance of the green areas and yards, repairs, cleaning of the houses, snow removal, etc.

However, these projects should be very carefully planned in order to be successful. Bearing in mind the location of the second-home complexes, traffic infrastructure and a very good connection to the city is crucial. Micro location should be also accessible during the whole year by local roads. The buyers are more sophisticated than ever and the projects should be carefully planned in terms of additional amenities, since they improve the quality of living at the micro location and very often have a significant impact on the actual decision when buying the property.