Bratislava is the most expensive capital in central Europe when it comes to luxury housing, reports a new analysis by UniCredit Bank, the TASR newswire wrote.
Luxury housing in Bratislava was as much as 30 percent more expensive than in other countries in the Visegrad (V4) group (the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland) at the turn of 2008/09, and was 22 percent more expensive than in Vienna.
"If we look at luxury housing from the perspective of investment, the average profitability from renting is about 4.3 percent for a property, which is under the recognised minimum, or 5 percent," said the bank's analyst David Derenik for TASR. The best investment location within the V4 is Budapest, where the price of luxury housing at €2,120 per square metre increases its profitability up to 6.8 percent. Prague has an average profitability of 5 percent, and Warsaw 4.6 percent.
"In order for an investor in Bratislava to gain the average revenue of other V4 countries, prices would have to fall by 28 percent with unchanged rents," said the analyst.
At the same time, Derenik said that the high price of luxury housing in Slovakia, along with its low profitability, has already been reflected in a cut in prices and it is likely that the weak domestic economy and the lack of interest among foreign investors will push prices of luxury housing down even further.
On average, the most expensive luxury apartment with an area of 120 square metres is located in Monte Carlo, where one square metre cost around €35,000 in the monitored period. The price in Bratislava was €3,770 per square metre, in Prague it was €3,380, in Vienna €2,300, and in Budapest €2,120. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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