The quarantine has become a golden opportunity for this Lithuanian city: real estate buyers are not intimidated by rising prices

There is a lack of apartments.

Home sales, which declined during the first quarantine, recovered in the second half of 2020. Currently, the price of old construction apartments in Utena ranges from 700 to 1000 Eur / m2, new construction with partial finishing – around 1000-1200 Eur / m2. Despite the significant price increase, the apartments are selling fast.

“Recently, a record speed of sales was broken: the apartment was sold an hour after uploading the ad on the Inreal portal.” Even Aruode has not managed to appear yet, “says V. Karvelis.

The experiment of real estate developers in the prestigious housing segment was also confirmed: in a new house on Aukštakalnio street, the four of 100 square meters. Two-storey homes, the price of one of which with partial completion amounts to 100,000 euros.

At least two more apartment buildings are currently in the design stage. One is on the same street Aukštakalnio, a prestigious building of 12 class apartments. Next, a house of 20 economy class apartments on Užpalių street.

The segment of individual houses and cabins is stable.

In the individual house segment, prices are also rising, but more due to more expensive construction than the objects themselves. Older houses are becoming more moderately expensive. Prices for new individual homes in Utena currently start at 100,000 euros. For such an amount, it is possible to buy a newly built house of 110-130 square meters with partial finishing. There are clients, sales continue, but apartments in Utena are more popular. “The choice of plots in Utena is really big, and people with 100,000 euros more often choose to build their own houses, and those who take a loan prefer to buy a flat for a smaller amount.”

Leisure segment curves

The family housing segment has undergone the most extreme changes in recent years. “Before the pandemic and the quarantine, no one needed farms; people were selling after a few years and the price reduction did not help. The first quarantine caused a real stir, suddenly everyone needed them, they captured everything that came on the market, even the cabins were sold completely “in the middle of the fields”, the further away from the settlements the better. They called and said: “we need a house”. At what price? It does not matter. What place? It does not matter. For the At the moment, I would say that sales continue, but no longer so recklessly. People think rationally, choose, come already determined, if they have around 70 thousand euros, looking for a house next to the body of water, if 30 – 40 thousand euros , a simpler single farm, but no longer anywhere, calculates the distances from the main residence and the nearest settlement, wants privacy and roads to pass. They no longer want those where it is necessary to drive a tractor of 3 km or walk ”, Says V. Karvelis.

According to him, about 85 percent. the home buyers are from Vilnius.

Migration of Vilnius residents to farms

During the family housing segment, we also felt a new trend: Vilnius residents sell apartments and move into family homes for permanent residence. This is not a mass phenomenon, but with the expansion of teleworking, the number of such clients has increased. They are looking for a home suitable to live all year round, with a water supply or well, close to social infrastructure, convenient access in winter-summer, good internet connection.