Which is the best city to buy property in Montenegro? There is no single answer. Podgorica for year-round living, Budva for summer letting and Bar for settled life on the coast stand out.
"Where should I buy in Montenegro?" is usually answered with photos of the view. Yet Montenegro's towns differ most in two things: how many people live there in winter and how many arrive in summer. Those two numbers decide whether a home works all year round.
In this piece we set seven municipalities side by side using official statistics. The ratios in the table are our own calculation; the raw figures come from MONSTAT's 2023 census and its 2025 tourism data. For a shorter coast-against-capital overview, see best places to buy property in Montenegro; here we go town by town.
Winter population and summer visitors: seven towns in one table
| Municipality | Population (2023 census) | Tourist arrivals (2025) | Tourists per resident per year | Arrivals from the UK (2025) |
| Podgorica | about 179,400 | 211,395 | 1.2 | 5,265 |
| Bar | about 45,800 | 260,176 | 5.7 | 2,688 |
| Herceg Novi | about 30,800 | 380,677 | 12.4 | 19,571 |
| Budva | about 27,400 | 884,794 | 32.3 | 38,739 |
| Kotor | about 22,700 | 275,971 | 12.1 | 29,701 |
| Ulcinj | about 20,500 | 312,677 | 15.3 | 5,090 |
| Tivat | about 16,300 | 166,819 | 10.2 | 12,340 |
Source: MONSTAT 2023 census and tourist arrivals and overnight stays. Population is the sum of the municipality's settlements; the very small villages whose figures the census suppresses are not included, which is why we write "about".
Three things stand out:
- Budva has 32 tourists per resident per year. That is roughly 27 times Podgorica. Short-term letting demand in Budva is very strong, and so is the gap between winter and summer.
- A third of British visitors stay in Budva. Of 118,746 arrivals from the UK in 2025, 38,739 stayed in Budva and 29,701 in Kotor. For a British buyer, these are the two places most people already know.
- Bar is the most populous town on the coast. At 5.7 tourists per resident, it has the strongest year-round life of the coastal towns.
The three towns that get talked about less tell their own story. Ulcinj is the most touristic municipality after Budva at 15.3 tourists per resident, yet only 5,090 British visitors stayed there. Herceg Novi and Kotor take almost the same ratio (12.4 and 12.1), but Kotor draws about half as many British visitors again as Herceg Novi. Tivat has the smallest population; as an airport and marina town, its demand comes from both tourism and yachting.
These ratios do not set the value of a home on their own. But if you plan to let, they show the risk of an empty winter; if you plan to live there, they show how much life stays open in winter. The two rarely peak in the same town.
The price side: what the official series shows
Apart from Podgorica, MONSTAT publishes new-build prices per square metre not for towns but for three regions. Euros per m²:
| Area | 2025 | Q2 2026 (preliminary) |
| Montenegro as a whole | 2,200 | 2,557 |
| Podgorica | 2,127 | 2,510 |
| Coastal region (Bar, Budva, Herceg Novi, Kotor, Tivat, Ulcinj) | 2,412 | 2,838 |
| Central region (Cetinje, Danilovgrad, Nikšić, Tuzi, Zeta) | 1,202 | 2,131 |
| Northern region | 1,533 | 2,145 |
Source: MONSTAT new-build dwelling prices.
The series counts new flats sold in the quarter as reported by developers, and gives no separate figure for Budva, Kotor or Tivat: they all sit in one coastal average. The price of a specific town can only be judged from current listings; for Budva we went neighbourhood by neighbourhood in our guide to buying an apartment in Budva. The coastal region has been the most expensive column in every quarter since the start of 2024; in 2022 and 2023 it was slightly below Podgorica. The central region's sample is thin, and in two quarters no sales were reported there at all. We look at the price series year by year in how much an apartment costs in Montenegro.
Which town suits whom
| Your aim | Town that stands out | Why |
| Living and working all year | Podgorica | 1.2 tourists per resident: demand does not depend on tourism and continues in winter |
| Short-term summer letting | Budva | 32 tourists per resident, and the most visited town for British travellers |
| Living on the coast in a real town | Bar | The most populous coastal municipality, with a port and a railway link |
| A quieter coast, longer stays | Herceg Novi | A high tourist ratio, but also a large resident population |
| Historic fabric, prestige | Kotor | A UNESCO area; building rules are stricter than elsewhere |
A note on Kotor: the 2025 law on the legalisation of illegal buildings treats UNESCO World Heritage areas as protected zones and sets a separate competence rule for Kotor. If you are looking at an older house in Kotor, check the building permit and legalisation status more carefully than you would elsewhere.
After you choose the town
Once the town is chosen, the process is the same everywhere: the title record, the notary, the transfer tax and registration in the cadastre. The checks that matter are set out in is it safe to buy property in Montenegro. Moving your belongings is a cost of its own; if you are coming from abroad, getting a quote through Glatko's home moving service before you buy makes the budget clearer.
Most of the live listings are in Budva: the Budva property listings, and for the whole country the Montenegro real estate listings. If you own a home in Montenegro, listing it is free.
Frequently asked questions
Where do British visitors go in Montenegro? According to MONSTAT's 2025 data, 33 percent of arrivals from the UK stayed in Budva and 25 percent in Kotor.
Is there an official price per square metre for Budva? No. Apart from Podgorica the official series gives regional averages; Budva is part of the coastal region average.
Where is property most expensive per square metre? In the official new-build series the coastal region has had the highest average in every quarter since 2024: 2,838 euros per m² in the second quarter of 2026, preliminary. There is no official figure for individual coastal towns.
Is winter a dead season in Podgorica? No. Podgorica has about 1.2 tourists per resident per year; demand comes from work and education, not tourism.
Can foreigners buy property in every town? Yes for apartments and houses, on the same terms as citizens. Restrictions apply to agricultural land, forest and security zones.