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Today, in general, there are three categories of customers, who are mainly interested in the property acquisition.
Activity in the real estate market in March can be assessed as sufficiently high
Today, in general, there are three categories of customers, who are mainly interested in the property acquisition. Non-residents of Latvia are one of these categories. It is no secret that the investment of 100 000 LVL provides possibility to a foreigner to submit documents for obtaining a residence permit - apartments in the price range from 100 to 140 thousand LVL with a good location are most frequently searched for - it is the primary condition to purchase a property. Those who buy an apartment for themselves, are considering different options – both renovated and non-renovated apartments, but those who buy property as an investment object, are looking for apartments that are already suitable for living, to find tenants as soon as possible after the purchase date. "The majority of buyers are our eastern neighbours. It can not be omitted that these customers are really knowledgeable and supportive - they clearly know the situation in our country, as well as the situation in the real estate sector, often even better than the locals", says Ms. Oļesja Bogodistaja, ARCO REAL ESTATE housing stock sales division manager.
The second category of purchasers is looking for property in Jūrmala. Though there are not a lot of properties for sale, also in Jūrmala the customers are usually looking for a property within the price range from 150 to 200 thousand LVL. "Today you can hardly buy an apartment in a new project at that price, so customers are usually willing to increase the purchase budget to 200-250 thousand LVL, or consider options of buying an apartment in Riga," informs O. Bogodistaja. About 85% of persons buying a property in Jūrmala are foreigners and 15% - local residents.
But the third category of persons looking for an apartment is consisting of local residents. Buyers can be divided into two groups. The first group wants to improve their living conditions - mostly they are looking for properties in new projects, and apartments with 1 or 2 bedrooms are most demanded. Given the fact that in the new projects the kitchen is often combined with the living room, this means that 2-3 room apartments are being chosen. The second group selects standard-type apartments. "Customers who opt for this segment, frequently select a new property just because of the area – they move to a smaller or larger flat (divorce, birth of a child, children are already grown and living alone, financially too difficult to maintain an apartment", says O. Bogodistaja. The standard-type apartment segment is also active. Most of the transactions in this segment are made in cash. Looking at ads placed in the real estate websites, it appears that supply is sufficient; however, the choices are limited. "No matter how strange it might seem, unfortunately, in general, there is really lack of good quality properties in Riga," concludes Oļesja Bogodistaja.
"One should note a trend, which has been forgotten in the Latvian real estate market in the last 2-3 years, namely that in 2011 there have been deals where the buyers, trusting their agents and in the result of collaboration, have bought expensive apartments even without coming and viewing the actual property condition," says O. Bogodistaja. This trend was common during the period of "boom" in the property market, when the brokers had to buy a faster printer to print out documents soonest possible. This trend was observed not only by real estate companies, but also by banks, and this fact certainly could be recorded as an significant observation of today's situation.
Additional information:
ARCO REAL ESTATE
Brīvības Street 39, Riga, LV 1010, Latvia
+371 67365555
www.arcoreal.lv
05.05.2011.