Estonia, Real Estate

Andres Hall, CEO of Uus Maa Kinnisvarakonsultandid, told Äripäev that the price of new housing developed in the middle of fields near Tallinn could fall by a half.

"I am speaking about houses in areas that have poor access or are poorly built. My personal view is that we have not yet seen the bottom of the price trend," he said, adding that right now buyers are interested in smaller, cheaper and more economical apartments.

"Those, who are looking for a new apartments, have now a wide range of offers to choose from," the expert noted.

Hall said that the current financial crisis is likely to increase interest rates, which means that there will be fewer buyers on the market and real estate prices could fall further.

Hall said that in terms of number of real estate transactions, Estonia today is at the level of years 2002 and 2003.

"In terms of value of transactions, we are back to 2005. The price of average apartment in Tallinn today is where it was in early 2006, at around 20,500 kroons per square meter. At the beginning of 2007 the price varied between 25,000 kroons and 26,000 kroons," the specialist noted.