During the first quarter of 2017, 1,118 apartments were sold in Vilnius – 3 percent more than in the same period last year and 12 percent more than in the last quarter of 2016. The total supply of new housing increased by 7 percent over the year and reached 3,557 apartments at the beginning of April this year.
Buyer activity encourages developers to offer new projects
In the first quarter of 2017, the primary housing market continues to show increasing buyer activity – 1,118 apartments were sold in the first three months of the year, which is even slightly more than the developers offered new ones – 1,083. “As many new apartments are purchased as there are new apartments offered, which means that the market maintains a balance that helps to avoid unreasonable price increases,” says Martynas Žibūda, Development Director of EIKA. According to him, taking into account the current sales level, the number of vacant apartments would be sold within 10 months if real estate developers stopped new projects in Vilnius. “The stock in terms of market activity is not large, therefore, in order to maintain a healthy market situation, real estate developers are encouraged to keep up with buyers and offer the market at least no fewer new apartments than are being sold,” says the Eika Development Director.
The greatest supply competition is in the middle class
In the first quarter of 2017, developers expanded their selection in Vilnius with 1,083 new apartments, in 19 new or ongoing projects. The economy class added the most projects (10 projects, about 400 apartments), but the middle class received the most apartments (7 projects, about 600 apartments). In the prestigious class, developers were less active due to the limited supply of plots and a more complicated coordination process (2 projects and 73 apartments). Currently, in the economy class, you can choose from 1,364 apartments (unchanged over the year), in the middle class – from 1,726 apartments (increased by 21% over the year) and in luxury housing – from 467 (the selection decreased by 14% over the year and the shortage of apartments in this segment is still felt).
Prestigious housing has become the most expensive
According to EIKA Development Director Martynas Žibūda, the greatest supply competition is felt in the middle-class segment, while the lack of supply is felt in the prestigious class. “This market situation is clearly visible in the changes in new housing prices. The smallest supply forms the largest price growth in the prestigious segment and, conversely, the largest competition in the middle class does not allow prices to rise,” notes the EIKA representative. Over the year, the price of new housing increased by 5.2 percent to 1,790 EUR/sq m. m. The largest price growth is recorded in the prestigious segment, where supply is decreasing for the third quarter in a row. Here, the price increased by 9.6 percent and reaches 2,870 EUR/sq m. m. In the middle class, the annual price growth is 4.6 percent to 1,790 EUR/sq m. m., and in the economy class the price exceeded the 1,400 EUR threshold and rose by 6.2 percent over the year.
The stock of completed housing is decreasing and the number of housing units sold from blueprints is increasing
In 2017. The first quarter was distinguished by the fact that out of 1118 apartments sold in the primary market, as many as 63 percent were sold without moving to the second half of the construction of houses. Until now, this indicator has not reached 50 percent on average. In the first quarter of this year, a visible and obvious decrease in the stock of completed housing is visible – the number of completed or nearing completion of construction of apartment buildings has decreased by a third. According to an EIKA representative, the decision of customers to purchase housing at the earliest possible stage is likely determined by the lack of supply of smaller apartments at the end of the project. “We notice that the majority of housing is sold before the end of the construction of the building, and the smallest, most suitable for investment apartments in the project are purchased first,” notes EIKA Development Director M. Žibūda.
The largest number of apartments were purchased in Šnipiškės (173 – 15 percent of all apartments sold), Pilaitė (147 – 13 percent) and Naujamiestis (131 – 12 percent). The largest number of available apartments at the beginning of April 2017 was in Naujamiestis (741), Šnipiškės (592) and Baltupiai (416).
About the Eika group of companies
Founded in 1992, EIKA is one of the largest real estate development and construction groups in Lithuania, successfully developing residential, commercial, public and other purpose building projects, creating a new quality of life and work. The company has already built almost 4,000 apartments and 320 thousand square meters of buildings. EIKA has been awarded many times as the best real estate developer in Lithuania, and the company’s projects “Santariškių namai” and “Eika namai in Pilaitė” have also become the best in Lithuania. New quarters are currently being developed in Pilaitė, Žirmūnai, Bajorai, Jeruzalė, this year it is planned to start construction in the real estate complex on Gedimino pr.