Split-Dalmatia County ranks third in Croatia by the number of approved applications for tax refunds on the purchase or construction of a first residential property. According to data from the Agency for Real Estate Transactions and Intermediation (Agencija za pravni promet i posredovanje nekretninama, APN), 520 applications were approved in the county by 30 October 2026.
Of that number, 296 applications were approved in Split, placing the city second in Croatia, immediately behind Zagreb. Ahead of Split-Dalmatia County on the national list are the City of Zagreb with 2236 and Zagreb County with 543 approved applications. Following Split are Rijeka with 237, Velika Gorica with 185, Zadar with 147 and Osijek with 140 approved applications, while 70 approved applications were recorded in Solin, placing the city among the ten Croatian cities with the highest number of approved supports of this type.
At the national level, a total of 8522 applications have been received to date, and APN processed 7091 of them by the end of October. 5561 applications were resolved positively, while 295 applicants were invited to supplement documentation. 1235 applications were rejected due to non-fulfilment of legal conditions or withdrawal of applications. Among the rejected, 351 related to properties whose price exceeded the legally permitted limit of 50 per cent above the average price. Other reasons for rejection included excessive property area, purchase agreements concluded before 1 January 2025, exceeding the permitted age limit, ownership of other properties and the submission of multiple applications within the same household.
The total value of support approved to date amounts to 42,498,779.50 euros. Of that amount, slightly more than 30.1 million euros relates to value added tax (VAT) refunds, and approximately 12.3 million euros to real estate transfer tax refunds. Of the total number of approved applications, 2040 relate to VAT refunds, while 3521 relate to real estate transfer tax refunds. The average VAT refund is 14,803.51 euros, and the average support for real estate transfer tax refunds is 3493.23 euros. Looking at all approved applications, the average support per household is 7642 euros.
The average age of applicants is 32 years. The youngest applicants are 18 years old, while the oldest are 44 years old, which is also the upper age limit for entitlement to support. The average household has two members, and the average area of the property for which support was approved is 73 square metres. At the level of Croatia, the average price of properties covered by approved applications is 2173 euros per square metre. The highest recorded price was 5263 euros per square metre, for a property in Dubrovnik-Neretva County. The lowest price was recorded in Brod-Posavina County, where a property was purchased for just 83 euros per square metre.
