Croatia Leads Homeownership in Eastern Europe: Over 80% of Residents Own Debt-Free Properties
More than 80 percent of the population of Croatia owns a property that is fully paid off. It is known that the population of Central and Eastern Europe largely resides in their own properties. Romania leads the way with over 90 percent of the population living in their own property, which is not burdened by a mortgage.
Croatia follows closely, with more than 80 percent of the population owning their own property. This figure does not include properties for which mortgages are still being repaid. Just under 10 percent of Croatia’s population lives in their own property while still paying off a mortgage, and the same percentage applies to renters – those who live in rented properties.
On the other hand, at the level of the European Union, just over 40 percent of the population owns their own property, around 25 percent are repaying a housing loan, while the rest are in rental accommodation.
Around 60 percent of buildings in Croatia were built before 1989
One of the interesting pieces of data is the age of residential buildings in Croatia. Around 60 percent of them were built before 1989, during the time of Yugoslavia. About 30 percent of the buildings were constructed between 1990 and 2009, while approximately 10 percent were built after 2010.
Similar trends can be observed in other countries as well. In the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia, over 70 percent of residential buildings were constructed before 1989, and similar figures can be found in some Western European countries like Austria and Germany, where almost 80 percent of buildings were constructed during that period.
