While property prices in Croatia continue to rise and sales volumes slow, a growing number of investors are looking beyond the country’s borders — and increasingly beyond Europe — in search of real estate opportunities.

One destination attracting particular attention is Dubai. According to Branko Papeš, owner of the Rijeka-based real estate agency Dogma Nekretnine, Croatian buyers are showing strong interest in the United Arab Emirates, with his agency brokering around 40 property transactions in Dubai this year alone, reports N1

Dogma Nekretnine, which already operates in Slovenia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, expanded its business to the UAE in response to growing demand. Papeš notes that Dubai, often perceived as distant and unattainable, is becoming a realistic investment option for domestic buyers.

“About 70 percent of our clients who bought property in Dubai had never even been there before,” Papeš said.

Last week, the agency organised a visit to Dubai for around 40 potential investors from Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the trip, one local investor showed the group a completed residential building, describing it as belonging to the city’s “lower tier” of construction — a term referring not to height, but to standard.

“What we saw surprised everyone,” Papeš explained. “The entrance hall alone was six metres high, with a reception desk and a doorman. The apartments had terraces with jacuzzis, and the building featured a swimming pool, wellness centre, gym, separate saunas for men and women, indoor and outdoor children’s playgrounds, and sports courts for tennis, padel and basketball.”

Another moment of surprise came when visitors learned the price: around 6,000 euros per square metre.

“This isn’t Zagreb, Rijeka or Split — this is one of the world’s major global cities,” Papeš said. “If a building like this existed in Croatia, prices would be far higher. In Rijeka, such apartments would sell for 8,000 to 9,000 euros per square metre, in Zagreb around 12,000, and in Split at least 13,000 or 14,000 euros. In Dubai, they sell for 6,000.”

Papeš added that Dogma Nekretnine began organising property tours in Dubai specifically because of rising interest from regional clients.

“These properties are not significantly more expensive than those in Croatia, yet they offer a level of quality and amenities that simply doesn’t exist on our market. If similar developments were available here, they would be far more expensive,” he said.

Describing Dubai as an unusual but highly positive environment, Papeš concluded with a striking comparison: “If Europe is a car, Dubai is an aeroplane. We will never catch up — perhaps not even by the year 2200.”

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