Latvia, Real Estate

Compared to April, the average price of Soviet-era apartments in the city remained unchanged at EUR 586 (LVL 410.2) per square meter. In the first four months of the year, Soviet-era apartment prices in Riga slightly increased, writes LETA.

In May, the prices of quality Soviet-era apartments in Riga's most popular suburbs, such as Purvciems, Plavnieki, Zolitude, Imanta and Ziepniekkalns ranged from EUR 22,000 to EUR 29,000 (LVL 15,400 to LVL 20,300) for one-room apartments, from EUR 29,000 to EUR 39,000 (LVL 20,300 to LVL 27,6300) for two-room, from EUR 34,000 to EUR 46,000 (LVL 23,800 to LVL 32,200) for three-room, and from EUR 41,000 to EUR 54,000 (LVL 28,700 to LVL 37,800) for four-room apartments.

Soviet-era apartment buyers paid more attention to building's technical condition and were also increasingly interested in purchasing apartments in renovated Soviet-era buildings.

In the first four months of 2012, real estate purchase transactions in Latvia increased 15.4% from the respective period in 2011, housing transactions – 33.6%, according to the analysis of Land Register data conducted real estate company Latio.

In January-April 2012, the number of apartment purchase transactions in Riga grew 41.1%, compared to the same period in 2011. The number of transactions involving private houses increased 25%.

The number of apartment transactions in Riga is significantly greater than the number of transactions involving private houses. More than 2,300 apartment transactions were registered in the first four months of 2012, comprising 90% of all housing transactions in Riga.

In the coastal resort town of Jurmala, housing transaction numbers dropped 20%. The number of apartment transactions reduced 32%, private house transactions – 7%.