More than 307,000 vacant homes in Macedonia, but prices continue to rise

Over the past five years, Macedonia has added more than 36,000 housing units, despite around 36.6% of all homes being unoccupied, according to the latest population census. At the same time, in the most sought-after areas of Skopje and Ohrid, the value per square metre has already surpassed €3,000.

The statistics raise an increasingly prominent dilemma in the real estate market: why do costs continue to rise while supply expands and thousands of apartments remain unoccupied?

According to data from the State Statistical Office, processed by the financial portal “Pari,” 36,281 homes were completed between 2020 and 2025, with a total area exceeding 3.26 million square metres. A new home averages around 90 square metres. Three-room homes lead with 12,038 units, followed by two-room homes, which number 11,129. The database records completed homes according to the number of rooms and administrative units.

Meanwhile, the 2021 Population Census revealed that of the 839,174 homes across the country, only 531,987 were occupied, accounting for 63.4% of the housing stock. The remaining 307,187 homes, or 36.6% of the total, were listed as unoccupied. In other words, approximately one in every three homes had no permanent residents at the time of the census. Nevertheless, the pace of construction has not slowed.

In June alone this year, construction permits were issued for 754 new homes./TV21/