Stable market and record low new residential supply in Lithuania in 2010
In the history of the Lithuanian residential property market, 2010 will be recorded with a negative price changes. In 2010, the total price level of apartments in the main cities of Lithuania—Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, and Panevėžys—dropped another 3.0%. However, given the price change in the prices of apartments in 2008 and 2009 (15.2% and 26.8% respectively), the change in 2010 was insignificant. Last year could be defined as the year of searching for the bottom because the drop in residential prices in the main cities of Lithuania stabilised considerably and from mid 2010, the first price changes in the positive were recorded in Vilnius.
Data recorded by Ober-Haus show that in 2010 the prices for residential property in the main cities of Lithuania experienced different trends. Beginning June 2010 in the capital city, the first positive apartment price changes were recorded. Although they were not significant, they remained until the end of the year. Vilnius is the only city in Lithuania where a symbolic positive residential property price change of 0.1% was recordered in 2010. In the capital city, the price change in apartments also experienced different trends in different segments. A positive price change was recorded only in the least expensive segment, i.e. old or new apartments located in residential districts. A more significant price change was observed in the new apartment market, because shrinking supply and new and more attractive projects allowed the developers raise the price in individual cases by as much as 10–15%. Total price growth in this segment, however, was only 5% in 2010. A slight price rise was also observed in the prices of old apartments located in residential districts since they attracted potential buyers due to having the lowest prices in the market. A slight drop of 3–6% was noted in the segment of more expensive residential property (new and old apartments in prestigious areas or the centre of the city) in 2010.
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