2017 Demonstrated Slower Growth in Apartment Prices in the Main Cities
The Ober-Haus Lithuanian apartment price index (OHBI), which records changes in apartment prices in the five major Lithuanian cities (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai and Panevėžys), remained unchanged in December 2017 (0.2% increase was recorded in November 2017). The annual apartment price growth in the major cities of Lithuania was 3.6% (the annual apartment price growth in November 2017 was 4.0%).
Despite unchanged price index for all major Lithuanian cities, there were recorded different price changes in different cities. In December 2017 apartment price increase was recorded in Kaunas, Šiauliai and Panevėžys, where prices increased respectively by 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.5% and the average price per square meter reaching EUR 1,031 (+2 EUR/sqm), EUR 612 (+2 EUR/sqm) and EUR 576 (+3 EUR/sqm). In Vilnius apartment prices remained stable and were the same as in November 2017 – EUR 1,468. Meanwhile in Klaipėda was recorded 0.2% price decrease with average price per square meter reaching EUR 1,037 (-2 EUR/sqm).
In the past 12 months, the prices of apartments grew in all major cities: 4.8% in Kaunas, 3.6% in Vilnius, 3.1% in Panevėžys, 2.7% in Šiauliai and 2.4% in Klaipėda.
‘Looking at general and individual results it can be stated that 2017 saw moderate growth in housing prices. After the 5.5 % growth in apartment prices in 2016, general growth in apartment prices in 2017 in the main cities of the country slumped to 3.6%.
Nevertheless, the assessment of individual cities’ results shows that trends are already changing. While Vilnius was the leader in house prices between 2010 and 2016, in 2017, the greatest price growth was recorded in Kaunas. In 2016, apartment prices in Kaunas grew by 4.3%, and over 2017, this figure climbed to 4.8% and resulted in the biggest relative change in housing prices among all cities of Lithuania. The days of increasing house prices in Vilnius are finished and we are now seeing rapid increase in the regional area of Lithuania which is undergoing considerable economic growth, lower price levels and also better housing affordability indices compared to Vilnius.
On the other hand, it should be remembered that the faster growth in apartment prices in Kaunas, which was recorded last year, is only a relative dimension. Looking at how much apartment prices in Vilnius and Kaunas grew annually in terms of euros per square meter instead of percentage, in 2017, Vilnius showed an increase of EUR 51 per square meter, meanwhile, in Kaunas this figure was EUR 47’, Saulius Vagonis, Head of Valuation & Analysis Department at Ober-Haus, said.
Latest news
All news
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,…
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…
Building permit for the construction of the housing project Vilniaus Džiazas has been obtained
Unique Properties, a real estate development company, has received a permit and started the construction of the Vilniaus Džiazas project in K. Vanagėlio Street in Vilnius Old Town. K. Vanagėlio str. 11 and 18, which consists of a two-storey apartment building with 62 apartments and 11 commercial premises, a 1200 sqm administrative cultural heritage object of interwar construction and public spaces. The project will feature apartments with 4,5 m high ceilings and 4 m high stained-glass windows, the ground floor will have private patios and access to a garden, while the second and third floors will have balconies and the last floor will have private terraces. According to Gediminas Tursa, CEO of Unique Properties, Vilniaus Džiazas aims to revitalise a part of the Old Town that was undeservedly forgotten during the Soviet era, and to reconnect it with the Rasa. The complex not only includes an open and lively commercial street along the north-south axis, but also new pedestrian and cycling connections to the railway station. "After obtaining the building permit, the company received a lot of interest from interested parties and within a couple of weeks it sold several more apartments - currently Vilniaus Džiazas has signed about 20…
All news