In the first quarter of 2018, the EIKA group of companies conducted a survey of its customers who purchased housing in 2017, in order to find out on what criteria and characteristics they based their selection and decision to purchase housing in a selected project. The survey, which has been conducted since 2006, reveals that in recent years, the most important criteria for home buyers when choosing a housing project are the company’s reputation, location and environment, and when choosing a specific home – the quality of construction work, property price and home layout.
Analyzing the data of the last two years – 2016 and 2017 – on the criteria for choosing a housing project, when a client starts searching for housing and chooses a project, we see 4 dominant criteria in the top five: the company’s reputation, the district/location, the environment near the building, the yard and parking options. The company’s reputation indicator, which was in the top five in 2015, became the most significant in 2017. In 2017, the sales manager’s service criterion displaced guarantees for the purchased housing from the top five. In addition, in 2017, compared to 2016, the importance of public transport connectivity also increased significantly.
Housing project selection criteria:
According to EIKA Development Director Martynas Žibūda, the importance of the company’s reputation criterion when choosing a housing project reveals that buyers want to have a reliable, everyday partner when making one of the most important decisions in their lives. “The importance of the developer’s reliability is reflected in the fact that the TOP 5 developers have maintained a slightly higher than 40 percent market share for several years, and the project location criterion, which remains one of the most important, reveals that the need for residents to live in a city with excellent infrastructure does not change – a comfortable and dynamic life in the city is the aspiration of many,” says M. Žibūda.
When evaluating the choice based on the characteristics of a specific apartment, over the past two years, the top five, with slight changes in positions, remain the same: quality of construction work, price of the purchased property, apartment layout, cost of housing maintenance and operation, and energy efficiency of the building. In 2017, compared to 2016, the importance of the size of the balcony increased significantly. According to M. Žibūda, quality and price are the key criteria that determine the final decision, but the increasingly relevant layout of the apartment or the desire to have a larger balcony reveals that people are beginning to value the ergonomics of space more and the opportunity to create more comfortable spaces for relaxation.
Housing selection criteria:
*Ratio of apartment area to number of rooms – new criterion for 2017
This year, recommendations have become the most important source of information when looking for housing. “As many as 34 percent of those who answered the question of how they learned about housing for sale indicated recommendations received, followed by real estate portals – 28 percent, online advertising – 26 percent, and the company’s website – 22 percent,” says M. Žibūda.
The survey was conducted on customers who purchased housing in the following EIKA projects: Domino namai, Eika namai in Pilaitė, Bajorų alėjos, Live Square, Namų pynės, Žalgirio135, Tilto g. 12 and Basanavičiaus 9a.