Real estate

Lithuanians are increasingly looking to buy houses and sites as standalone house and land sales grew in Lithuania in May, according to the Centre of Registers.

While banks in Lithuania are resilient enough to possible shocks in the financial markets, a possible burst of the real estate bubble in Scandinavia presents a potential hazard, according to Lithuania's central bank.

The beginning of spring in Lithuania's real estate market has been intense with 23% more deals concluded in March than the previous month.

The real estate agency Citus is merging with RE/MAX Lietuva to form the biggest real estate firm in Lithuania with over 220 agents.

A Lithuanian needs to spend nearly 80% of the average wage to rent a one-room apartment in the centre of Vilnius, much higher than the proportion that people in other Baltic States have to spend.

Lithuania’s residential property prices fell 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2015, according to data from Statistics Lithuania.

New apartment affordability increased in Vilnius and Riga in 2015 but Estonians’ rising incomes meant they could afford much bigger apartments in the country's capital city, Tallinn, than citizens in other Baltic State capitals.

The City of Klaipėda is auctioning several dozen land plots for lease this year in order to attract investment and encourage construction.

Prices are rising as the real estate market along the entire Lithuanian seaside picks up, with the resort of Palanga seeing the most activity, driven by a falling ruble and more interest from Lithuanian buyers.

Investment in residential real estate in Lithuania last year bounced back to levels last seen in 2007, the year before the financial crisis set in, bursting what was then seen as a real estate bubble.

Last year, investment into residential real estate in Lithuania returned to the pre-crisis levels of 2007. Economists say, however, that the growth is sustainable and a real estate "bubble" could, in worst case, deflate a little rather than explode as it did in 2008.

Hanner Real Estate is to invest €30 million building a new 20,000 sq metre business centre in Vilnius’ financial district.

Neringa, the municipality located on Lithuania's picturesque Curonian Spit, has become a Mecca for the country's rich and famous. However, second home owners, who spend most of the year in Vilnius and other major cities, are a mixed blessing for the beautiful region.

The supply and demand for real estate is growing in Lithuania‘s largest cities with the movement of people from rural areas to cities increasing, drawn by higher wages.