300 new apartments sold in Vilnius in the third quarter of 2010

In the third quarter of 2010, 59 percent of new apartment sales were made up of economy-class apartments, the price of which currently ranges from 2,800 to 4,600 litas per square meter. Over the nine months of 2010, prices in this market sector increased by an average of about 3 percent. Currently, the cheapest and largest, as much as 75 percent, part of the economy-class housing supply is made up of apartments in projects located in Pašilaičiai.

About 36 percent of sales were for mid-range apartments,  which range in price from 4,600 to 6,400 litas per square meter. Mid-range apartment prices remained unchanged over the three quarters of this year. The supply in this class has decreased the most since the beginning of the year in the most popular projects in Santariškės and Šiaurės Miestels.

The remaining 5 percent of apartment sales were for luxury apartments, with prices starting at LTL 6,400 per square meter. Prices in this sector have not changed since the beginning of this year. The supply of prestigious apartments remains quite large, and only a small part of home buyers can afford them today – on average, only a few new apartments in the prestigious class are sold in Vilnius per month.

“In the third quarter of this year, as many as 34 percent of apartments sold in the primary market were in buildings still under construction. The market has started to change, because at the beginning of the year buyers were not even interested in apartments in unfinished buildings,” says UAB “Eika” market analyst Tomas Žiaugra. “More patient buyers are choosing apartments in apartment buildings that have just started construction, because some of the previously built apartments no longer meet the needs of current buyers,” adds the market analyst.

In other major Lithuanian cities, apartment purchases remained passive. According to preliminary data from the Center of Registers, during the third quarter of this year, about 600 transactions were concluded in Kaunas, of which only 3 percent were for new construction housing. In Klaipėda, about 450 apartments were sold during the same period, of which 10 percent were for new construction apartments.

According to T. Žiaugra, a market analyst at UAB Eika, real estate developers in Vilnius are currently offering about 1,300 new apartments that have already been built. Another 300 apartments are expected to be added to the market at the beginning of next year. Since the beginning of the year, the supply of new apartments in completed projects has decreased by about 35 percent.

Founded in 1992, the company “Eika” is one of the largest real estate development and construction groups in Lithuania. The group of companies consists of: UAB “Eika” – a leader in the real estate market, valued for its innovation, reliability and responsibility; UAB “Eikos statyba” – a construction company with extensive experience in the construction and renovation of administrative, public, commercial, industrial and residential buildings; UAB “Inžinerinės idėjos” – specialists in the design, installation and maintenance of engineering systems. The quality of the services of the group of companies is ensured by the implemented Quality standards ISO 9001:2000, Environmental standards ISO 14001:2004 and Occupational Health and Safety standard OHSAS18001:2007