As Croatia’s real estate market goes through a challenging period, multilingual real estate marketing is becoming essential for agencies wanting to maintain sales. Prices remain at record highs, but the number of transactions is falling sharply. In 2025, a total of 88,395 property sales were completed, representing a 21.7% decline compared with the previous year.

The most vulnerable segment? The most profitable one. Foreign buyers, who account for more than 35% of all transactions in Croatia’s coastal counties, have significantly reduced their activity. The number of international buyers on the coast fell by more than 22%, while sales of houses and villas declined by between 20% and 26%.

At the same time, competition is increasing. The number of registered real estate agencies rose from 1,174 in 2024 to more than 1,510 in 2025.

The numbers are unforgiving: more agencies, fewer buyers. If your agency is still relying on the same tactics from five years ago without investing in multilingual real estate marketing, it is gradually losing the battle for the most valuable segment of the market.

Why Traditional Listing Portals Are No Longer Enough

Most agencies still pour their budgets into platforms such as Njuškalo. The problem is that you become just one of thousands of advertisers, often promoting the same property as three other agencies, while the platform continues to raise its prices for business users year after year.

Now imagine a foreign investor planning to spend 500,000 € or more. They are unlikely to choose an agency through a classifieds platform that also sells used cars. They are looking for someone who inspires trust and who communicates with them in their native language.

Passively waiting for such a buyer to find you by chance no longer works. You need a proactive strategy that reaches out to the buyer, rather than expecting the buyer to come to you.

The Property-Buying Process Now Begins Online

A foreign buyer’s journey to your property almost always starts in front of a screen:

• Between 96% and 97% of buyers begin their property search online.
• More than 71% of these searches are carried out on mobile devices.
• A combination of localized SEO and paid advertising delivers an average return on investment of 3.1x.

The conclusion is simple: if your agency does not have its own localized website in the buyer’s language, you practically do not exist as far as that buyer is concerned.

Foreign Buyers Take Their Time – Use It to Your Advantage

Foreign buyers typically research a location for 6 to 12 months before making a purchase. That is not an obstacle – it is an opportunity.

During that period, an agency that regularly publishes useful, localized content can build a relationship and establish trust long before the first phone call. Educational blog posts and guides generate 5.4 times more leads than simply listing available properties.

An article such as “A tax guide for German citizens buying property in Croatia” directly addresses the concerns that hold buyers back and transforms your agency from “just another agency” into a trusted expert.

Three Benefits of an Multilingual Real Estate Marketing

1. Trust before the first contact. Localized articles answer questions about taxes, paperwork and the legal process before buyers even ask them. By the time they call you, they already trust you.

2. Speed that makes the difference. Responding to an inquiry within five minutes can increase the likelihood of conversion by up to 21 times. Automated initial communication ensures that no lead goes cold before an agent takes over the conversation.

3. The technology buyers expect. Virtual 3D tours, such as Matterport, have become standard. Foreign buyers want to “walk through” a property before booking a flight.

Conclusion

The market has changed. The agencies that succeed are those that view a multilingual presence not as an expense but as a tool for building authority and trust among international buyers. At a time when the number of buyers is falling and competition is intensifying, the ability to approach buyers in their own language becomes the crucial difference between an agency that stagnates and one that grows.