25 November 2008 The largest decrease in prices in 2008 was for selling spaces for which
the rental payment has decreased by up to 50%. At the moment, the choice of
selling spaces in Riga is large, even on the main streets of the city where
there was a shortage of premises some time ago. Such a choice of premises in
the most advantageous locations had not been observed for already a couple of
years.
The increase in municipal payments has made selling of large apartments
even more difficult because the interest of buyers in such apartments is
shrinking by each month.Within the past month the prices for apartments in block buildings have
dropped by another 3.8% down to EUR 1179 per square metre.
In the first three
quarters of this year, the largest fall in prices was experienced in the house
and land market in Riga and its suburbs. This year, the prices in these market
segments have decreased by 20–25%. At the same time, the average price of
secondary apartments has decreased by 15.5%
this year.
The data of
the real estate company “Balsts” indicate that during the summer period the
number of rent transactions has increased significantly, i.e. by 50%. At the
same time, the prices of standard design apartments continue to decrease, the
rate of the price fall being increased. In August, the average price of
standard design apartments had decreased by 2.8%,
reaching the level of EUR 1255 per square metre.
When comparing the 1st half of 2008 with the
same period of the previous year, the number of deals of the real estate
company “Balsts” has increased by 8.2%. The largest increase has been in rental
and lease segments – if compared to the previous year, the number of deals has
grown by 25%.
With an increase in supply both in lease and rent segments, and also in secondary market segments, supply has outpaced demand, thus causing price corrections in all segments of the real estate market.
The real estate company Balsts in cooperation with Nordea Bank has started to sell housing by applying the method widely used abroad - Open housing. Open housing means that the real estate with the respective indication is open to visitors during the whole day, be that potential buyers or ordinary passers-by.
“Although the average price for apartments in block buildings fell in April by 1.3%, the first quarter of the year closed on a positive note in the company Balsts. The number of transactions in March compared to January has increased by 68%, which is a very positive indicator”, explains Aigars Zariņš, Chairman of the Board of SIA
“As of April the branch offices of the company Balsts will be open for business six days a week, twelve hours a day. Improvement in client service is one of the priorities of our company, therefore it is planned to increase the number of employees this year, as well as to increase the turnover and extend working hours”, declares Aigars Zariņš, Chairman of the Board of SIA Balsts.
The current hype in the mass media concerning the stagnation of the real estate market is rather groundless, since the observations and research last month carried out by the company Balsts resulted in identifying emerging spring-like activity.
2008
