East European real estate markets showing signs of stabilisation, date shows

The residential real estate market in Poland is stable with some locations seeing modest price increases and other decreasing slightly, according to the latest index.
 
In November apartment prices increased in Warsaw and in Gdansk where values were up 1% to an average of €1,593 per square meter, the latest date from Ober-Haus Real Estate Advisors shows.
 
The biggest monthly price drop was recorded in Łódź, down 1.4% down to €1,140 per square meter. The other cities in November saw more moderate changes from a 0.3% drop in Kraków and Katowice to 0.3 % increase in Warsaw.
 
During the last 12 months the price of apartments has dropped by 2% in Warsaw and 0.4 % in Gdańsk and have increased by 3.5% in Kraków, 4.9% in Poznań, 6% in Katowice and 5.5% in Łódź.  But prices are still some 9.2% below peak in Warsaw and down 21.7% in Łódź.
 
Another sign of stability in the market is increasing sales. Transactions in November reached 616, the highest so far this year. The average apartment transaction value in Tallinn decreased 5.2% in November after increasing 7.6% in October. While the average transaction price in Tallinn in November was €942 per square meter. Compared to a year earlier, the average apartment square meter price increased 12.7%.
 
The Ober-Haus Riga apartment price index also shows that other eastern Europe markets are stabilising. In November year apartment prices in Riga didn’t change but it was an active month in the real estate market both from the owners and buyers point of view. During the past 12 months the price of apartments rose 4.8% but prices are still 60.9% lower than their peak reached in May 2007.
 
In November apartments prices in Vilnius increased by 0.4% and the average price is now €1,189 per square meter. Prices for apartments have risen for the sixth consecutive month in the Lithuanian capital and the overall increase for this period is 2.9%. Over the past 12 months, the prices of apartments in Vilnius are still off 0.7%, and are 40.1% off of their December 2007 peak.
 
In other main Lithuanian cities, most notably Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Šiauliai, prices are still decreasing, with the Ober-Haus index recording monthly decrease in prices of 0.1%, 0.8%, 1.2% and 2.3% respectively.