Apartment prices in the country’s major cities rose by 0.3% in January
Ober-Haus Lithuanian Apartment Price Index (OHBI), which captures changes in apartment prices in the five largest Lithuanian cities (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys), increased by 0.3% in January 2024. The overall level of apartment prices in Lithuania’s major cities grew by 2.1% over the last 12 months (annual growth of 1.7% in December 2023).
In January 2024, in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda, the sales prices of apartments grew by 0.2%, 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively, and the average price per square metre amounted to EUR 2,581 (+6 Eur/m²), EUR 1,745 (+9 Eur/m²), and EUR 1,650 (+10 Eur/m²). Meanwhile, Šiauliai and Panevėžys recorded a decrease of 0.1% and 0.6% respectively in January and the average price per square metre was EUR 1,098 and EUR 1,075 (-6 Eur/m²).
Over the year (January 2024 compared to January 2023) apartment prices increased in all major cities of the country: in Vilnius – 1.6%, in Kaunas – 3.0%, in Klaipėda – 2.8%, in Šiauliai – 2.3%, and in Panevėžys – 1.7%.
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![Real estate markets in the Baltic countries are experiencing varying degrees of difficulties, yet at the same time opening up opportunities for the most active participants](https://www.ober-haus.lt/wp-content/uploads/SR24-EN-web-source-image-150x150.jpg)
Real estate markets in the Baltic countries are experiencing varying degrees of difficulties, yet at the same time opening up opportunities for the most active participants
The year 2023 was full of challenges for the real estate markets of the Baltic countries showing some early signs of this back in 2022. Last year, Baltic countries saw an economic slowdown, declining activity in the residential and commercial real estate market, rising number of unsold apartments, higher office vacancy rates and slowing construction volumes. According to the Ober-Haus annual Real Estate Market Report on the capital cities of the Baltic countries, it is clear that the sentiment of homebuyers, businesses and investors alike has slumped and confidence in the Baltic real estate market as a whole has further eroded. While the general sentiment of the real estate market participants is similar across the Baltic countries, the overall impact of global factors (Russia-Ukraine war, high inflation, interest rate hikes) differs to a varying degree. “Since the real estate market in Latvia and its capital city has lacked fast growth in the last five years, the impact of the current challenges is not as tangible as in other countries,” Raimondas Reginis, Head of Market Research for the Baltics at Ober-Haus, said. Meanwhile, real estate markets in Estonia and Lithuania experienced an investment boom in the aftermath of Covid-19, resulting in…
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A more favourable house price to wage ratio for buyers in 2023 and 2024
Ober-Haus Apartment Price Index for Lithuania (OHBI), which captures changes in apartment prices in the five largest Lithuanian cities (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys), increased by 0.2% in February 2024. The overall level of apartment prices in Lithuania's major cities has grown by 2.2% over the last 12 months (annual growth of 2.1% in January 2024). In February 2024, the sales prices of apartments in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda grew by 0.3%, 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively, and the average price per square metre amounted to EUR 2,589 (+8 Eur/m²), EUR 1,751 (+6 Eur/m²) and EUR 1,651 (+1 Eur/m²). Meanwhile, Šiauliai recorded a 0.2% decrease in apartment prices in February, with the average price per square metre amounting to EUR 1,095 (-3 Eur/m²). In Panevėžys, the average price per square metre remained unchanged at EUR 1,075 per square metre. Over the year (February 2024 compared to February 2023), apartment prices grew in all major cities of the country: in Vilnius - by 1.8%, in Kaunas - by 3.2%, in Klaipėda - by 3.0%, in Šiauliai - by 1.7%, and in Panevėžys - by 1.8%. "Although the cold snap that has gripped the country's housing market is not going away yet,…
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The cumulative effect of several years of housing market activity decline, suggests around 40% lower construction volumes in 2024
Over the past few years in Lithuania, we have seen a rapid decline in housing market activity, which has impacted the volume of new housing developments. However, apartment building developers in the country’s major cities have been facing the toughest challenges lately, with very modest apartment sales figures in the period 2022–2023. According to Ober-Haus, compared to the record activity of 2021, in 2023, the sales of apartments in the primary market were down by 68% in Vilnius, 55% in Kaunas, and 57% in Klaipėda. “Despite the two- to three-fold decrease in the sales of newly-built apartments, a very high number of apartments were nevertheless completed in the country’s major cities in 2023, because the development of these projects had begun during 2021 and 2022,” said Raimondas Reginis, Head of Market Research for the Baltics at Ober-Haus. According to Ober-Haus, in 2023, developers in Vilnius built 4,915 apartments for sale – 18% more than in 2022. When considering the last two decades, this is one of the highest figures, second only to those in 2007, 2008 and 2020, when more than 5,000 apartments were built for sale. In 2023, 52 different apartment projects (including ongoing project phases) were available for…