(ZAGREB) - Property prices in Croatia have almost doubled in the past 10 years, thanks largely to its Adriatic coast, the country's national bank said Thursday.

Real estate prices rose 89.9 percent over the period, including a 61.6 percent increase recorded since 2004, the Croatian National Bank said in a report.

The most significant year-on-year growth was recorded in 2006, when prices increased 16.2 percent compared with the previous year, said the report covering the 1997-2007 period.

Prices increased notably on the former Yugoslav republic's 1,880-kilometre (1,160-mile) Adriatic coast and in the capital Zagreb.

In the second half of 2007, apartments in downtown Zagreb fetched an average price of 2,300 euros (3,600 dollars) per square metre, against 1,400 euros (2,200 dollars) five years earlier.

At the same time, local bank interest rates for housing loans had fallen to 6.5 percent from 11 percent in 1997.

Croatia, which hopes to join the European Union by the end of the decade, has pledged to open its real estate market up to residents of the 27-nation bloc by February 2009.

Analysts say that the move could spark even greater demand and prices, especially on the coast.

Last year Croatia hosted more than 10.4 million visitors, continuing a record-breaking trend for the country of 4.4 million inhabitants since the end of its war of independence in 1995.

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