According to experts in the construction and real estate markets, this could affect the price of apartments, even more significantly.

"The price of iron jumped from 30 to 40 percent, so that all steel products went up in different percentages. For example, the reinforcing mesh was sold in November from 520 to 530 euros per ton in dinar equivalent, and in January from 700 to 720 euros. . The prices of steel sheets, boxes have also increased ... ", says Tanja Aprcović from a well - known warehouse.

Many producers, as he states, have announced price increases. They are mostly those who make thermal insulation products, such as styrofoam, styrofoam, rock wool and the like. According to her, the sale of construction materials at their warehouse last year was the best for the last decade and a half.

Kaća Lazarević, the owner of a Belgrade real estate agency, believes that construction materials have become more expensive because much more is being built, and points out that this can certainly raise the price of apartments that are being built now.

"The demand for apartments is huge, which means that there is room for price increases. Now we have a shortage of apartments on the market, and the reason is that the whole of Serbia has moved to Belgrade, Novi Sad and Nis," Lazarevic explained to "Novosti".

The most important factor that influences the formation of the price is, as he states, the city construction land, which is extremely expensive in our country, unlike the countries in the region, and then the construction material and the market.

Goran Rodić, from the Construction Chamber of Serbia, has a similar opinion and points out that the market has the final say.

"How much the increase in the price of raw materials will participate in the final price of the apartment depends on the market. If the demand is higher and there is space, it will certainly increase and vice versa," Rodić says for that paper.

Estimating only in relation to the construction material, he believes that iron, which participates in the price per square meter with 30 to 40 percent, could have very little effect on the increase in the price of apartments that are currently being built.

"But, if the prices of insulation and other materials jump, and that usually goes in chains, then that price increase could be more significant," explains Rodić.

The pandemic did not significantly affect the real estate market in Serbia. During March and April last year, during the state of emergency, there was a decline in the purchase of apartments due to physical restrictions, but sales continued to grow from May. Prices in new construction are higher last year and now more than in 2019.

Source: Seebizeu