According to the real estate portal Property-Abroad.com, the demand for property in Latvia is increasing.
The number of property purchases throughout the country increased by 5,3% in the year ending July 2011, and there has been a substantial increase in demand for property from foreigners. Recent amendments to immigration laws introduced in July are thought to be at least partly responsible for the increase.
Much of the demand has come from Russia, as buying property in Latvia helps them to secure residency, which is seen as being an attractive option due to political uncertainty. Anyone investing between 50 000 and 100 000 lats in property in the Riga Planning Region, or at least 200 000 lats in a Latvian credit institution, or 25 000 lats in the equity capital of a company registered in Latvia, followed by another 20 000 lats within 12 months, is able to apply for permanent residency. In the last nine months this new law has seen a total of 192 residency permits being issued, and 128 foreigners have been granted permanent residency, up from 55 in 2010.
Source: http://www.property-abroad.com/latvia/news-story/latvia-property-market-sees-increasing-demand-19317185/