ee24.com talked with Ingvar Allekand the director of Domuskinnisvara - the largest real estate company in Estonia and found out how things are in the market of the country.
How would you describe the current state of the Estonian real estate market?
In large cities such as Tallinn, Tartu, Pärnu, Narva, property prices are steadily going higher. The same can be said about the activity of buyers. It rises ivariably and there are more and more transactions every year. Again, this applies only to the major cities and centers, in the rest of the country market activity remains the same the last few years.
What types of object are bestsellers?
First of all, of course, it’s the apartments in major cities. Also in demand are homes in exclusive locations where luxury real estate is situated. These are prestigious areas along the coast of the Gulf of Finland and the coastal areas of Tallinn. It is worth noting that the price of this type of real estate has grown recently.
How are things going with the construction of new facilities?
Differently. Everything, as usual, depends on the region. Thus, in Tallinn, the demand for real estate objects is greater than they’re built in fact. In Tartu, on the contrary, it’s built about as much as the market requires. And in Parnu, for example, almost nothing is built. But only Finns are buying real estate there.
Do many foreigners buy real estate in Estonia?
According to statistics, about 10% of the transactions are made on the Estonian market by foreigners. Most are the Finns, the second place goes to Russians. Finns often acquire apartments and villas. Many investors buy real estate for profit. This is a popular way of earning among Finns - to buy a house in Estonia and rent it out to tourists and summer residents. As for the Russians, they mostly buy real estate in and around Narva.
What are the prospects of the Estonian market? What awaits it in the near future?
Estonia is a small country, and all the changes here are not very fast. I can say that we are doing market research only two times a year. Therefore, any sudden changes and shocks should not be expected. As for the prospects, in the next one or two years the demand will increase in the first place for new buildings. This is due to the fact that more and more new projects are under construction not only in Tallinn, but also in other cities of the country.
Text - Ivan Ulitin, ее24.com