APN received 2,533 subsidy requests for young people purchasing or constructing first residential real estate

By October 31, 2025, the Agency for Transactions and Mediation in Immovable Properties (APN) received a total of 2,533 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 solve their housing situation.

Of the overall number of received requests, 2,056 requests have been processed - 1,482 being complete requests, all approved. So far 232 requests require additional documentation, and 342 requests have been declined because they do not fulfil legal requirements or because the applicant has withdrawn the request. Out of the total number of declined requests, only 99 requests (4.8%) have been declined due to the real estate price, which exceeds the legally prescribed threshold of 50% above the average published price.

The most common reasons for declining a request, apart from too high a price or too many square meters, include purchase and sale contracts concluded prior to January 1, 2025, applicants who are older than the legally prescribed age, possession of other real estate or multiple requests submitted by members of the same family.

 The total worth of the so far approved subsidies is 11,698,164 euro - out of which 8,533,224 euro refers to value added tax (VAT) refund and 3,164,941 euro to real estate transfer tax (RETT) refund. The average subsidy amount is 14,612 euro for VAT and 3,524 euro for RETT. Out of the 1,482 approved requests, 584 refer to VAT refund and 898 to RETT refund. The average subsidy per family is 7,893 euro.

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

The majority of the 1,482 approved requests is from Zagreb - 736 of them. Then there are 142 approved requests from Zagreb County, followed by 126 requests from Split-Dalmatia County and 121 from Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

There are 59 approved requests from Osijek-Baranja County, 33 from Zadar County and 32 from Istria County and Vukovar-Srijem County each. In Brod-Posavina and Dubrovnik-Neretva County each 26 requests have been approved, in Karlovac County 23, in Bjelovar-Bilogora County 18, in Varaždin County 17 and in Koprivnica-Križevci County 15. Moreover, 14 requests have been approved in Međumirje County and Sisak-Moslavina County each, and 13 in Krapina-Zagorje County and Šibenik-Knin County each. Virovitica-Podravina County registers nine approved requests, Lika-Senj Cunty eight and Požega-Slavonia County five.

The subsidy requests have been submitted across Croatia; hence, subsidies have been paid to young people in all Croatian counties. The leading cities are Zagreb (736), Split (83), Rijeka (79), Velika Gorica (57), Osijek (38), Zadar (29), Zaprešić (26) and Slavonski Brod (20).

The average applicant’s age is 32 - the youngest applicant is 18 years old and coming from Zagreb, while 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 12.

Regarding real estate floor area, the average is 69 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, comprising 259 m², is registered in Istria County.
The average real estate price based on the 1,482 approved requests is 2,237 euro per square meter. The highest price registered amounts to 5,013 euro per square meter and it is in Split-Dalmatia County, while the real estate with the lowest price, 186 euro per square meter, was purchased in Virovitica-Podravina County.

Useful information for applying

The Ministry has created two calculators for calculating a potential subsidy amount - one for VAT refund (for new construction), and one for RETT refund (for older construction).

The Ministry has also published average prices of real estate by square meter for all counties and cities, including cadastral municipalities for the City of Zagreb. The information is based on the study conducted by the Institute of Economics based on the sale and purchase contracts registered by Tax Administration in 2024. Average prices for each county are available here.

The law also prescribes maximum apartment and house sizes acceptable in order to obtain a refund, with a possible deviation of 50% depending on the number of household members. A table showing the prescribed sizes is available here.

Additional information on obtaining a subsidy, submitting an application and the required documentation is on the Ministry’s website, here, while a list of frequently asked questions and answers is available at APN and the Ministry’s websites.

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