CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Property Investing in Slovakia

Tell people you are interested in buying property in Slovakia and they will probably assume that you are looking to Bratislava, a city which is attracting buyers who see the Slovak capital as the next Prague. These buyers see rising prices and growing prosperity of the kind experienced in Prague ten years ago, and hope that the city will avoid some of the problems of rampant tourism which have hit the Czech capital.

Yet Slovakia is not a country where the capital is the only place to buy. The High Tatras, eleven of which are over 2,600m (8,500ft), is one of the most attractive high mountain ranges in Europe and offers the only truly alpine standard skiing in Eastern Europe. Slovakia has more natural beauty than most of the markets which provide direct competition and as advertising budgets become more generous, tourism figures are increasing. Tourism arrivals rose 6.4% to a healthy 15.2 million in 2005.

Is This a Good Place to Buy?

The reasons to buy in the Slovak Republic can be grouped under two headings; rising prosperity and ideal location. Slovakia was one of the first investment markets, the poster child of the 2004 EU entrants, and is now in competition with the Baltics to be acknowledged as the most successful country of the group.

Slovakia has one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. In 2004 the country was nominated by the World Bank as having the most rapidly improving investment climate globally. A big part of…