Profile: Slovenia Ljubljana's lovely, but for best value property, head for the countryside around it, says Daniel McLaughlin
Few cities as lovely as Ljubljana can be so easy to leave behind. Its pastel-hued houses cluster alongside the babbling Ljubljanica river, their balconies awash with flowers that cast occasional petals across the waterfront cafés below.
The pace of life can seem languorous in the capital of Slovenia, the most affluent of the old Yugoslav republics and of the eight ex-Soviet bloc states that joined the European Union last year.
It is a gem of central Europe, its centre richly coloured but lightly scarred by a history dominated by Hapsburg - and later communist - control, with interludes under Napoleon and German, Italian and Hungarian forces after 1939.
It is a joy to linger in Ljubljana, but the urge to flee eventually triumphs: how could it not, with the Adriatic Sea, snow-capped peaks and Alpine lakes all within easy reach of the capital, and Austria, Italy and Croatia beckoning at the end of modern highways?
For the property hunter, the promise is immense. But the short-term rewards of buying in Slovenia are more likely to be welcome changes to your lifestyle than a sudden swelling of your capital.
An apartment in a new development or renovated historic property in central Ljubljana, especially in sought-after areas like Rozna Dolina, Bezigrad and Trnovo, will cost between €2,000-€5,000 per sq m, according to Tanya Hrast at Property Real Estate, one of the agencies in the capital whose staff are used to dealing with foreign clients. (That would be between €150,000 and €375,000 for, say, a 75sq m (807sq ft) apartment).
A two-bedroom luxury apartment in a new development in the Rozna Dolina area being advertised through Slovenian Properties costs €350,993. And prices can go as high as €1.5 million.
"Over the last decade prices have more than doubled in Ljubljana and the whole of Slovenia," says Ms Hrast of Property Real estate. "It is too expensive in the city centre for ordinary Slovenians now. Last year, we had 15 to 20 foreigners coming in each day, with great interest in buying property here. Then they saw the prices, and changed their mind."
There was no false modesty in Ms Hrast's explanation of why Ljubljana has slipped from the itinerary of the bargain-hunters who have snapped up much of Budapest and Prague, and are now looking for cheap deals in cities like Bucharest and Sofia.
"We have everything here," she declared. "It's 45 minutes to the coast, half an hour to Lake Bled, and you can get to skiing at Krvavec in 30 minutes and Kranjska Gora in 50.
"If you like hiking, the forest is only 10 minutes from central Ljubljana. You can cross Slovenia in three hours and be in Italy, Austria or Croatia in one hour.
"The quality of life is wonderful," she shrugged. "But it may not be as cheap as you expect." Janez Mandeljc, of the PPR agency, confirmed that prices in central Ljubljana were prohibitive for most private investors.
"Prices are very expensive there," he said. "I haven't sold anything in Ljubljana for half a year. We have lots of buyers from the UK, and have sold them perhaps 35 to 40 properties in Slovenia, but not one was in Ljubljana."
For Slovenes and foreigners looking for somewhere within easy reach of the capital, Mr Mandeljc recommends Postojna - famous for its spectacular cave complex - and an easy half-hour's drive from Ljubljana.
There, an average one-bedroom apartment is likely to cost about €37,000, half of what you could easily pay in Ljubljana.
Prices for property amid the spectacular Alpine scenery of Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj, and the top Slovene ski resort Kranjska Gora, are not far behind those for Ljubljana, Mr Mandeljc says. The pretty, Italianate coastal towns of Piran and Koper dominate the third most expensive area.
For the best combination of price and location, Mr Mandeljc recommends the Soca valley, a frontline during the first World War where one million men were killed, and ambulance driver-and-author Ernest Hemingway set his novel, A Farewell to Arms.
Now, it is an idyllic gorge where opportunities for hiking, mountain-biking and rafting abound, and Bovec and Kobarid - small towns on the edge of the Julian Alps, close to Italy - are seeing a sharp increase in demand for property.
"In five to 10 years it will be a big tourist centre," Mr Mandeljc said of the Soca valley. "It could be the place for a wonderful holiday home with strong investment potential." Ms Hrast also noted Irish and UK interest in the "three borders" region, east of Maribor, where the country is squeezed between the frontiers of Hungary, Austria and Croatia.
Access is relatively easy, with the airport at the Austrian city of Graz only an hour north, and prices are among the lowest in the country.
And as many young Slovenes crave cash to fund a move to the capital, the chance of picking up a bargain is clear, even if many of the area's cottages and farmhouses, set among lovely rolling countryside, are in need of renovation.
On the legal side, Ms Hrast sounds reassuring.
"There is nothing to worry about," she insists. "There are definite regulations to follow now that we are in the EU so - in comparison to Croatia for example - things are very clear and straightforward.
"Most buyers trust an agent to handle things - and if we mess anything up, our insurance company pays out."
In comparison with many former communist countries, and ex-Yugoslav ones in particular, Slovenia seems mercifully free of disputes between the state and former owners over the restitution of property. Checks in the land registry are usually straightforward, as are applications for the compulsory national identity number.
The trickiest area, which Ms Hrast compares to that in a "banana republic", is over permission to build on land in central Ljubljana. It is still a murky game whose winners have the best connections and, often, the loosest interpretation of planning laws.
For anyone intent on plunging into the Ljubljana market, however, prices are expected to rise over the longer term, probably helped by Slovenia's intended adoption of the euro in 2007, and a relative dearth of new major housing projects on the horizon.
The rental market in the capital is stable, according to Alja Marenec of the Stoja Trade agency, with a two-bedroom, furnished apartment in central Ljubljana costing €800-€1,000 a month, and a three-bedroom property some €1,500.
"This is a beautiful and safe city to live in," she says, with customary Slovenian pride. "And most foreigners who come here feel that way too."
PROPERTY REAL ESTATE: www.property.si
PPR: www.ppr.si
STOJA TRADE: www.stoja-trade.si
SLOVENIAN PROPERTIES:
www.slovenianproperties.com sales@slovenianproperties.com
AGENCIA REAL ESTATE: www.agencia.si
