City guides
City guides (458)
Saranda City Guide
Albania
Saranda is the jewel of the Albanian Riviera, a horseshoe bay on the Ionian Sea looking across to the Greek island of Corfu and a market that has become one of the Mediterranean's fastest-rising coastal investment stories. Modern sea-view apartments are priced from around EUR 1,500 per square metre, with city-centre stock at EUR 1,600-1,800, sea-view units at EUR 2,200-3,000 and beachfront product topping EUR 3,000 per square metre, still a fraction of comparable coastlines in Greece, Croatia or Italy. The growth has been dramatic: Albanian coastal prices rose around 12% on average over the prior year, and some Saranda and nearby Ksamil pockets recorded 25-35% annual gains in 2025 on the back of intense seasonal tourism. Roughly 40% of buyers are foreigners, drawn by low entry prices and short-let yields of a strong 8-10%. The catalysts are concrete: the new Vlora International Airport opening for full commercial flights in 2026 and a planned Gjirokaster airport serving the south are expected to lift Riviera values by 15-25%, while Albania's EU candidacy adds a structural tailwind. Investors should weigh genuine upside against clear overheating risk in the hottest micro-markets.
Tirana City Guide
Albania
Tirana is Albania's capital and largest city — population 557K (city) / 800K (metro). The city has transformed dramatically over the past 25 years: post-communist grey Brutalist neighbourhoods reimagined with colourful murals (the 'painted Tirana' movement under former mayor Edi Rama, now Prime Minister); the iconic Skanderbeg Square pedestrianised and reshaped (2017); the Blloku district (formerly a closed enclave for communist elite, now Tirana's premier expat + lifestyle neighbourhood) anchoring upscale dining and nightlife; and the New Boulevard ('Boulevard of Martyrs of the Nation' axis) lined with modernist towers from international architects. Average property prices €1,800-€2,500/m²; Blloku premium €3,000-€5,000/m². Yields 6-8% long-term — strong combined with Albania's 0.05% annual property tax (Europe's lowest) and 15% flat rental income tax. Tirana benefits from Albania's EU accession track (opened negotiations 2022).
Adelaide City Guide
Australia
Adelaide, capital of South Australia and home to roughly 1.47 million people in the Greater Adelaide region, has shifted from 'affordable also-ran' to one of Australia's standout property markets - dwelling values rose ~12% over 2025 and around 79% over five years, yet it remains cheaper than Sydney and Melbourne. The city anchors the Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills wine regions, hosts a renowned festivals calendar (Adelaide Fringe, WOMADelaide), and is the national hub for defence and space, including AUKUS submarine construction at Osborne and the Australian Space Agency. Foreign-buyer context (whole of Australia): purchases require FIRB approval, and foreign buyers are generally restricted to NEW dwellings, off-the-plan apartments or development land - not established homes - with a temporary ban on foreign purchases of established dwellings running 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029. In South Australia, foreign buyers also pay a 7% Foreign Ownership Surcharge on residential land on top of standard transfer duty.
Brisbane
Australia
Brisbane is Australia's fastest-appreciating major property market and the host city for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Queensland capital's economy surpassed AUD 200 billion in 2024, driven by infrastructure investment, interstate migration, and a subtropical lifestyle that attracts residents from Sydney and Melbourne. With median house prices crossing AUD 1 million in 2025 — still significantly below Sydney — Brisbane offers compelling value and is undergoing a once-in-a-generation urban transformation.
Gold Coast City Guide
Australia
The Gold Coast is a coastal city in Queensland, Australia, about 70 km south of Brisbane, famed for 57 km of surf beaches and the entertainment hubs of Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. Australia's sixth-largest city, it has shifted from a holiday destination to a permanent lifestyle-migration magnet, drawing interstate movers (chiefly from Sydney and Melbourne) for its climate, beaches and relative affordability. Investor appeal rests on sustained population growth, chronic housing undersupply, sub-1.5% rental vacancy and the Brisbane 2032 Olympics infrastructure pipeline; a current catalyst is Light Rail Stage 3 to Burleigh Heads, due to open mid-2026 (the airport-bound Stage 4 was cancelled in September 2025). Foreign-buyer rules are restrictive: all foreign buyers need Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) approval and are generally limited to NEW dwellings or off-the-plan, not established homes, and a temporary ban on foreign purchases of established dwellings runs 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029. Queensland also levies an 8% Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty plus a 3% land-tax foreign surcharge.
Melbourne
Australia
Melbourne is Australia's cultural capital and fastest-growing major city, celebrated for its world-renowned coffee culture, street art, live music scene, and sporting events. With a population approaching 5.5 million and annual growth of 2.7%, Melbourne is projected to overtake Sydney as Australia's largest city within the next decade. The property market offers relative value compared to Sydney, with a median house price around AUD 970,000 and strong fundamentals driven by population growth and infrastructure investment.
Perth City Guide
Australia
Perth is the capital of Western Australia and one of the most isolated major cities on earth, anchoring a state powered by iron ore, gas, gold and lithium exports. That resources wealth, combined with a Mediterranean climate, world-class beaches (Cottesloe, Scarborough) and the Swan River foreshore, underpins a relaxed, high-amenity lifestyle. After years as Australia's most affordable capital, Perth has been the standout performer of the recent cycle, with REIWA reporting a record median house price of AUD 840,000 in December 2025 (up 12% over the year) and units up 18%. Foreign buyers face Australia-wide rules: FIRB approval is required before purchase, foreigners are generally restricted to NEW dwellings and off-the-plan stock, and a temporary ban on foreign purchases of established dwellings runs 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2029. In Western Australia a 7% foreign-buyer transfer-duty surcharge applies on residential acquisitions (though WA, unlike NSW/Victoria/Queensland, does not levy a foreign-owner land-tax surcharge).
Sydney
Australia
Sydney is Australia's largest and most iconic city, renowned for the Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and its stunning coastal lifestyle. As the nation's financial capital and home to the ASX, it offers world-class dining, diverse culture, and a property market that consistently ranks among the most dynamic in the Asia-Pacific. Greater Sydney's median house price surpassed AUD 1.6 million in 2025, driven by constrained supply and sustained demand from both domestic and international buyers.
Baku City Guide
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan's energy-rich capital wraps a UNESCO-listed walled Old City (Icherisheher) and the flame-shaped towers of its modern skyline around the Caspian Sea, anchoring roughly a quarter of the national population and the lion's share of GDP. The central districts of Nasimi, Yasamal, Narimanov and Nizami form the prime apartment market, where completed homes trade at around AZN 2,700 (roughly USD 1,600) per square metre, while off-plan stock in outer Surakhany, Binagadi and Khatai starts nearer AZN 1,100-2,600 per square metre. Demand is led by domestic buyers protecting capital against inflation alongside a growing pool of Gulf and regional investors, and rental rates have been the standout story, climbing close to 8% through end-2025 as tenant demand outpaced new supply. The waterfront Boulevard, White City regeneration zone and the Port Baku district concentrate the most liquid premium product. With prices projected to rise a measured 5-6% in 2026 and gross long-let yields in a realistic 6-9% band, Baku offers an accessible Eurasian entry point bridging European and Middle Eastern capital flows.
Buje City Guide
Croatia
Buje, known historically as Buie, is an inland hilltop town roughly ten kilometres from the Istrian coast, called the sentinel of Istria for its position. It sits at the centre of Istria's most celebrated wine district, home to Momjan Muscat, a variety that won gold at the Brussels exhibition of 1935 and was served at the Habsburg and Italian royal courts. The buyer is typically Austrian, German or Slovenian, wanting a restored stone house, olive grove or vineyard and a view, ten minutes from the sea, at around 78 percent of the Umag coastal price, with strong Italian-language continuity also drawing buyers from Trieste and the Veneto. Asking prices are the cheapest in this northwest Istrian set at 3,454 euros per square metre. Two things buyers should weigh before committing: much of the attractive land around the hill town is classified agricultural, which non-EU buyers cannot acquire directly, and old stone houses commonly carry unresolved title spread across many heirs.
Dubrovnik City Guide
Croatia
Dubrovnik is Croatia's most-prestigious coastal city and the 'Pearl of the Adriatic' — population 41,562 (city, only ~4,000 living within the UNESCO Old Town walls). The Old City of Dubrovnik was inscribed UNESCO World Heritage in 1979 — its medieval city walls, baroque streets, and limestone architecture have made it one of the Mediterranean's most-recognised destinations (further amplified by Game of Thrones filming the King's Landing scenes here 2011-2019). The city's prime market is ultra-luxury: Old Town €7,000+/m² with prime seafront/Old Town locations reaching €10,000/m². Even outside the Old Town, Dubrovnik commands €4,151-€4,700/m² (Jan 2026) — making it Croatia's most-expensive coastal market, 37% above Split. Foreign buyers dominate the ultra-prime segment: UK, US, German, Russian, Gulf-state, and increasingly Asian ultra-HNW.
Grožnjan City Guide
Croatia
Grožnjan, Grisignana in Italian, is a walled hilltop town in north-west Istria above the Mirna valley and the seat of a municipality of 656 people across ten settlements (2021 census). The town itself has 142 permanent residents. Artists began moving into its empty stone houses in 1965, about thirty of them became galleries and studios, and since 1969 the International Cultural Centre of Jeunesses Musicales Croatia has brought more than 20,000 young musicians here for summer courses. Italian is co-official: 35.8 percent of residents declared Italian ethnicity in 2021, and in 2001 Grožnjan was the only Croatian municipality with an Italian majority. Asking prices averaged 3,817 euros per square metre in September 2026, down 8.8 percent year on year and just under the Istria County average of 3,878, across only 95 properties for sale. Buyers find stone houses in the old town and its hamlets, rural houses with land, and building plots at around 100 euros per square metre, with the Parenzana cycling trail running through the municipality.
Hvar
Croatia
Hvar is Croatia's glamour island, a sunlit Dalmatian destination where Hvar Town's Venetian piazza and Spanjola fortress sit above a yacht-filled harbour, and lavender fields and vineyards roll across the interior. It ranks among Croatia's most expensive markets alongside Dubrovnik, Opatija and Rovinj, with asking prices in Hvar municipality averaging around 4,530 EUR per m2 in 2026 and luxury seafront villas (200-350 m2) trading from roughly 1.5 to 6 million EUR. The Croatian islands carry a 15-25% per-m2 premium over the mainland, driven by limited buildable land and intense summer demand. Furnished stock dominates at over 75% of listings, as most homes double as short-term rentals. Island price growth, which ran double-digit in recent years, is now cooling to a more sustainable 3-7% for 2026. Gross yields are modest at roughly 3-3.5% given high values, but Hvar Town commands the strongest nightly rates and occupancy in the country. EU, EEA and Swiss buyers purchase freely; non-EU nationals buy via reciprocity with ministry approval. A 2025 annual property tax of 0.60-8 EUR per m2 applies.
Kastel Novi City Guide
Croatia
Kastel Novi is one of seven historic settlements collectively called Kastela, strung along seventeen kilometres of Kastela Bay between Trogir and Split, and it sits second from the Trogir end, immediately next to Split Airport. That adjacency, roughly five to ten minutes by road, is the entire investment thesis: almost no other Adriatic second-home location sits minutes from an international airport, and it turns two and three night stays into a viable let where a village an hour away cannot compete. The official transaction average for the town of Kastela overall is 2,610 euros per square metre, well below Split city's 3,738 and Trogir's 2,575, though that figure spans all seven settlements from an industrial edge near Split to a beachfront edge near the airport, so it is a reasonable but not exact read on Kastel Novi specifically. The town underneath the tourism is real, with close to 38,000 residents across Kastela, which supports genuine year-round rental demand from Split commuters and airport and aviation employees, alongside the summer season.
Krk City Guide
Croatia
Krk town sits on the southwest coast of the island of Krk, in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, road-connected to the mainland by a bridge rather than a ferry. Krk is also the name of the island itself and of the wider municipality, so any listing or search should be checked for which of the three it actually describes. The town's strongest draw is that it is an island reachable by car: the 1,430 metre Krk Bridge opened in 1980 and its toll was abolished in 2020, and Rijeka Airport sits on the same island roughly thirty minutes away, though the airport itself runs a seasonal-only schedule, so year-round access in practice means a two to three hour drive from Zagreb, Ljubljana, Trieste or Venice. Drive-market buyers from Austria, Germany, Slovenia and northern Italy dominate, alongside boat owners drawn by Marina Punat nearby. Asking prices reached 4,918 euros per square metre, though this figure is internally inconsistent with the portal's own sub-zone data and should be treated as indicative rather than precise.
Makarska
Croatia
Makarska is the capital of the Makarska Riviera, a dramatic 60 km stretch of pebble beaches squeezed between the Adriatic and the towering Biokovo massif, about 90 minutes south of Split. Its palm-lined harbour, long Donja Makarska beach and pine-shaded promenade make it one of Dalmatia's premier beach-tourism markets. In 2025 Central Dalmatia averaged roughly €4,090/m², with Makarska-area apartments slightly below that on larger supply; first-row seafront apartments on the riviera start near €2,500/m² and prime new builds reach €4,500-5,500/m². Gross rental yields sit around 4-5%, supported by record 2025 visitor numbers and intense July-August occupancy that makes summer short-lets highly productive. Croatian prices are forecast to rise 4-7% in 2026, coastal towns at the upper end. EU, EEA and Swiss nationals buy on the same terms as Croatians; non-EU buyers acquire via the reciprocity principle with Ministry of Justice consent (1-6 months), with OECD-parity reforms approaching. Investors weigh Makarska's exceptional beach product and rental engine against pronounced seasonality. The town suits buyers wanting a high-occupancy beach-let or a sun-and-mountain lifestyle base in Central Dalmatia.
Medulin City Guide
Croatia
Medulin sits at the southern tip of Istria on Medulin Bay, ten kilometres and about fifteen minutes from Pula Airport, which is the closest airport-to-town relationship of any locality on this coast. That proximity is what makes short stays viable and is the main reason Medulin functions as an explicit rental-investment market rather than a pure second-home one. The draw is Bijeca, the only sandy beach in the area, the protected wild coastline of Cape Kamenjak beyond Premantura, and a marina. Asking prices reached 4,024 euros per square metre in July 2026, up 9.5 percent year on year, with Pjescana Uvala and Vinkuran the most expensive addresses within the municipality and Premantura and Pomer the cheapest. Buyers should understand the shape of the market before entering it: there were 1,579 properties for sale against 18 long-term rental listings, which is a market built for summer letting and close to nothing in winter.
Milna City Guide
Croatia
Milna sits on the western tip of the island of Brac in a deep, sheltered bay that Venetian sailors called the bay of a thousand ships. There are two other Milnas on nearby Croatian islands, on Hvar and on Vis, and their coordinates differ by fractions of a degree, so any address must be confirmed against the land registry rather than a map search. This is the safest natural harbour on Brac and a genuine sailing address: it sits at the mouth of the Split Channel, making it a common first or last stop for Central Dalmatian charter traffic, and it holds two marinas. The buyer profile follows the boats, predominantly German, Austrian, Italian and Slovenian sailors buying a stone house within walking distance of a berth, in a village quieter and less commercial than Supetar. No settlement-level price index exists; the only reliable figures are island-wide, and ferry service to Split collapses from up to five sailings a day in summer to as few as one in winter, which is a genuine practical constraint for anyone planning year-round use.
Moscenicka Draga City Guide
Croatia
Moscenicka Draga is a seaside settlement in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, on the Opatija riviera under Mount Ucka, despite sitting geographically on the Istrian peninsula, which leads many feeds to mislabel it as part of Istria County. It is the seaside port below Moscenice, a separate medieval hilltop village 173 metres above it, connected by road and by 750 stone steps; a listing in Moscenice is a hillside stone-village property with no beach frontage, while a listing in Moscenicka Draga itself is waterfront, and the two are materially different products despite sharing a postcode. The draw here is Opatija-riviera prestige at a discount: nearby Opatija and Lovran transact well above this settlement's asking price, and the buyer base is the same Austrian, German, Slovenian and northern-Italian second-home cohort with a two-century Habsburg-era holiday tradition behind it. This is a very thin market, only 120 listings across a municipality of under 1,300 people, and the honest read is that most published price movement here is statistical noise rather than a real trend.
Motovun City Guide
Croatia
Motovun is an inland walled hilltop town in Istria, set 270 metres above the Mirna valley and known historically as Montona. It is a classic stone-house renovation market, Venetian and Istrian stone in the walled core and the surrounding hamlets of Brkac and Kaldir, bought as second homes and boutique rentals against a backdrop of truffles, Teran wine and Malvazija. Buyers follow the county pattern, Slovenian, German, Austrian, Czech, Hungarian and Italian. Asking prices reached 3,757 euros per square metre, up 3.2 percent year on year, across a thin market of only 115 properties for sale, where a single sale can move the average. One correction matters more than any price figure: the Motovun Film Festival, long the town's headline claim, relocated after 2023 to Petehovac in Gorski Kotar and now runs as a separate event called Cinehill. A great deal of travel and agency copy still sells Motovun on a festival that no longer happens there.