The Istrian real estate market is moribund. The reason is that most people still stick to the property prices reached at the top of the last boom even though buyers are nowhere to be found. How come the sellers do not adjust to the bust after so many fallow years? The main reason one hears about when talking to people in Istria is that the entry of Croatia into the European Union is hoped to change things for the better. Europeans are expected to come back in numbers, and the peak prices are believed to be just right for the new boom. Thus it is not surprising that recent polls show that the greatest enthusiasm for the Union in the upcoming Croatian referendum regarding accession can be found precisely in Istria. The peninsula has benefited most from the real estate market ever since independence. Property prices started rising even while the war was still raging in regions closer to Serbia and Montenegro. The real estate market thus remains alluring. Beside tourism, there is little else Istrians can hope for, anyhow. In short, the Istrian real estate market will remain moribund for a few more years. Once the hopes of a new boom peter out, for the new boom is but a pipedream, the prices will plummet at long last.