Second wave of coronavirus didn’t scare home buyers – the results are staggering

Vilnius residents are in a rush to buy a home

Although the housing market has performed quite well with the first wave of the pandemic, it is doubtful that it will hold up to the second blow. That is why real estate experts disagree. As Delfi Būstas has already written, one side says that the lessons have been learned and that the economy and the real estate sector will not experience a great impact, while the other calls for the pink glasses to be removed: both the housing market and prices will change .

However, in the real estate market results in October, there was no coronavirus pandemic. According to Citus, a real estate developer, the new housing market in Vilnius continues to grow: in October, according to preliminary data from Citus, 627 apartments and cottages were booked. A total of 4,254 new homes have been reserved in the capital during the 10 months of this year.

For comparison, in 2019. in October to reserve 577.8 percent. less than this year. Within 10 months Last year 5,321 homes were agreed, up 25 percent. more than this year. However, during the same period in 2018. 3,797 homes were reserved, 11 percent. less than in the previous months of this year.

“It is obvious that so far the market is living in a high-rise mood and I think this shows its vitality and high demand for housing in Vilnius. In addition, a certain housing supply deficit has recently started to form: with the active recovery of the housing stock (the number of homes for sale) that began to recover in June, the market began to contract very rapidly. In July, August and September it was less than 5,100 and in October there were 5,027 houses in storage. This figure was almost 14 percent compared to October last year. smaller (5,713), although there were more reserves then, ”says Šarūnas Tarutis, head of investment and analysis of the company.

According to him, the housing stock in Vilnius is still relatively small: a large part is made up of previously built and less liquid apartments, “balances” of projects that “hang” in the warehouse, although buyers rarely consider them. Therefore, according to Š. Recently, buyers have been acquiring apartments in projects from even less attractive and less experienced developers. According to Citus, up to 81 projects had at least one reservation in October.

In Kaunas, October was also more successful than September: 72 new homes were provisionally reserved here. Within 10 months 637 homes were reserved in the temporary capital, according to Citus analysts. 2019 10 months the result was 1,085, a year earlier: 694 reservations.

Better results this year

Martynas Žibūda, Director of the Development Department of the real estate Eika, Delfi Būstas also states that in October, the real estate market not only did not feel the coronavirus, but also showed the best results.

“October was a record year for the market. It was a record month for both us and the market, neither we nor the market had as many sales as in October. Such figures did not exist even before the first wave of coronavirus,” says the interlocutor, and adds that this situation is probably the so-called “compressed spring effect”: buyers were waiting, they could not buy for objective and subjective reasons.

“January and February were the months when we went up the mountain and then there was a full well in March-April. I would rate the fall results as a compressed spring effect, since those three or four months of quarantine are over, sales were much lower than average, so if we compare the 10 months of this year with the 10 months of the Last year when sales were highest, this year’s sales are only 22 percent. ., despite the fact that there were months affected by the quarantine ”, analyzes M. Žibūda.

According to the interlocutor, it seems that we can no longer see such a record number of real estate sales this year: “Naturally, there will be fewer meetings and fewer transactions. We don’t think there will be as much impact as in the spring, but we will feel the change. We don’t see that in transactions yet, but we already notice it in reservations. “

Who can, is in a hurry

Remigijus Pleteras, director of the real estate Bonava Lietuva, says that it is difficult to predict what it will be like in the future, but it can still be concluded that, except for the sharp drop in the total number of housing transactions during the spring quarantine, the capital, just as the country avoided major shocks.

“Personally, I realize that even the period in which the number of transactions was reduced was not due to the buyers or sellers themselves, but simply to the restriction of the work of notaries during the quarantine period, when the transactions simply they could not be passed at the usual rate. If the same strict restrictions are adopted as in the spring, the number of transactions will fall again, but, I repeat, not because of buyers, but because of technical obstacles. In response to the question of whether buyers have decided to wait or postpone buying a home, I would argue the opposite: those residents who can afford to buy a home are in a hurry to do so as soon as possible, until banks tighten lending even more. ”Says Pleter.

The interviewee goes on to say that, in general, buyers today are looking for a fast and efficient solution: affordable housing, that can be moved immediately without additional time for installation: “Also, I think that the need for economy class housing will start to grow again. . Newly built housing with complete finish, located further from the center, it can be purchased for 70-80 thousand. euros. If it is not for the owners’ own lives, then for the rent, because it is the rental market in the capital that has recovered extremely quickly. “