APN received 1,604 subsidy requests for young people purchasing or constructing first residential real estate

By September 2, 2025, the Agency for Transactions and Mediation in Immovable Properties (APN) received a total of 1,604 tax refund requests for purchasing or constructing first residential real estate, after opening the application process on June 5, 2025, when the Ordinance on subsidies for the acquisition of first residential real estate entered into force. This is a permanent measure intended for young citizens and young families aimed at helping them to solve their housing situation.

Of the overall number of received requests, 941 requests have been processed - 700 being complete requests. So far 688 requests have been approved, 124 require additional documentation and 117 requests have been declined because they do not fulfil legal requirements or because the applicant has withdrawn the request. Only a small number of declined requests, 39 (4.14%), refer to real estate whose price per square meter exceeds the allowed price.

The total worth of the so far approved subsidies is 5,631,473 euro - out of which 4,228,603 euro refers to value added tax (VAT) refund and 1,402,870 euro to real estate transfer tax (RETT) refund. The average subsidy amount is 14,632 euro for VAT and approximately 3,516 euro for RETT. Out of the 688 approved requests, 289 refer to new construction (VAT refund) and 399 to existing construction (RETT refund).

Overview by counties - most requests coming from the City of Zagreb

The majority of the 688 approved requests is from Zagreb - 376 of them. Then there are 61 approved requests from Zagreb County, 59 from Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and 55 approved requests from Split-Dalmatia County. There are 20 approved requests from Osijek-Baranja County, 15 from Zadar County, 12 from Vukovar-Srijem County, 11 from Brod-Posavina County and Istria County each, and 10 approved requests from Bjelovar-Bilogora County and Karlovac County each. In Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Krapina-Zagorje County and Šibenik-Knin County there were seven approved requests per each county, six of them in Sisak-Moslavina County and five in Koprivnica-Križevci County. Lika-Senj County, Međimurje County and Varaždin County include four approved requests each, Virovitica-Podravina County three and Požega-Slavonia County one request. It is clear that all Croatian counties, including the City of Zagreb, include approved subsidies.

The average applicant’s age is 32 - the youngest applicant is 19 years old and coming from the City of Zagreb, and the oldest is 44 years old, which is also the upper age limit prescribed by the amendments to the Act on State-Subsidised Housing Construction. The average number of household members is two people, while the largest household is a family of six.

With regard to real estate floor area, the average is 66 square meters. The smallest real estate with an approved subsidy request is in the City of Zagreb and it comprises 18 m2, while the largest real estate of 225 m2 is registered in Karlovac County.

The average real estate price based on the 688 approved requests is 2,285 per square meter. The highest price registered amounts to 5,013 euro per square meter and it is located in Split-Dalmatia County, while the real estate with the lowest price, 186 euro per square meter, was purchased in Virovitica-Podravina County.

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