The demand for apartments in the modern center of Riga is increasing
In recent years, people’s interest in opportunities to buy properties closer to the city center has increased, this trend is also taken into account by builders and developers when deciding on new projects in the capital, says Aleksandra Strode, member of the board of LNK Properties SIA. The most prestigious and sought-after district of Riga is currently Klusais centrs, which as a historical part of the city center is also included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, notes A. Strode. We also observe great interest in the opportunities to buy properties in the Skanstes district, where, in addition to high-class residential complexes, residents have access to various business centers, a sports arena, schools, kindergartens and green parks, as well as comfortable infrastructure, which is being actively developed, explains the board member of LNK Properties . Saves time One of the main reasons why people want to live closer to the city center is to save time, concludes A. Strode. “In recent years, several high-class office buildings have been developed in and around the center of Riga, which means that a large number of people work in the center of the capital every day. Evaluating the time spent on the road to and from work, people often make the choice to buy a home closer to their workplace. In addition, the center provides other advantages – a wide range of restaurants and cafes, as well as various entertainment and sports opportunities are available here. In today’s fast pace, it is important that everything we need is nearby, so we observe that the demand for this type of housing is growing every year,” explains the board member of LNK Properties. Due to the high demand, in recent years LNK Properties has developed several residential building projects in the center of Riga and nearby. In 2008, the Zaubes building with 37 exclusive apartments in the quiet center was put into operation, a couple of years later LNK Properties added the Hansa residence and Brian’s house to its portfolio, in 2019 the reconstruction of the Twenty project was completed, and less than two weeks ago, the newest LNK Properties residential building was put into operation Renaissance Vesetas street 6, Riga. At the moment, most of the apartments in this building have already been sold or reserved, explains A. Strode, emphasizing that the demand for modern living spaces in Riga is really very high at the moment. This is also confirmed by Ksenija Ijevleva, Latio SIA market analyst. “The demand for real estate, especially modern and energy efficient, is very high, but the supply is limited. It is clear to everyone that heating prices will increase significantly in the coming season, so people are actively looking for properties that would allow these costs to be reduced. Two years and a year ago, the first selection criteria were usually location, room arrangement, area and price, but now the primary thing that buyers are interested in is energy efficiency indicators. Of course, this trend is also taken into account by developers – practically all newly built buildings are energy efficient, as this is one of the most important advantages of selling property today,” said K. Ijevleva. Get it fast Colliers data shows that there are currently around 400 new and renovated apartments in the center of Riga for the first time. Agija Vērdiņa, associate director of the company’s research and consulting department, notes that this might seem like a relatively large amount, but it should be taken into account that the majority of apartments are available in the premium segment. “In construction and renovation, there are only a few projects where apartments are snapped up quite quickly, there are even projects where 90% of the apartments have already been sold, while the building is still under construction,” explains A. Vērdiņa.
She says that in the first six months of 2022, around 250 apartments were sold on the first-time market in the center of Riga, which is 30% less than a year ago. “This trend could be explained not by a decrease in demand, but by a lack of supply. In June of this year, only slightly more than 300 fully finished apartments in the economic and middle class segment were available in the first-time market in Riga and Pierīga. It should be emphasized that many objects in the center are sold with gray or black finishes, as a result of which the average prices per square meter are lower. For apartments in new projects, the price per square meter reached 2,700 euros this year, and in renovated buildings – 2,015 euros. Speaking of trends, it should be mentioned that the area of purchased apartments continues to increase, reaching 68.5 m2 in 2022,” says A. Vērdiņa. In an apartment like a house Although LNK Properties Renaissance residential building was put into operation only less than two weeks ago, currently seven out of ten apartments have already been sold, one more apartment has been reserved, and two are available to interested parties, says A. Strode, thus confirming the demand for such type apartments is huge. “The uniqueness of the Renaissance project is based on the understanding that the dynamic landscape of the city center is inseparable from the living space of the citizen, and the project challenges the usual understanding of privacy as a visual separation from the street space. The building’s image and functional planning have been carefully thought out so that each apartment is emphasized as an individual residential unit and the interior and exterior spaces are completely separated from the spaces of other apartments, providing an undisturbed sense of privacy. At the same time, the wide views allow the city landscape to flow in, crossing it and bringing the monumental facade columns into the interior – the mental border between the city and the private living space. This is a unique project, because although the building is located in the very center of the city, at the same time, it allows the occupant of each apartment to feel like they are in a private home. This is an important aspect these days,” notes the board member of LNK Properties, adding that at the moment almost every new project has its own added value and drive. “If in the past, simply beautiful and modern houses were built, now developers often offer apartment owners various additional extras, such as a garden. As a result, high-quality residential areas similar to those seen in Scandinavian countries are currently being formed in Riga. The residents of Latvia and Riga also want to improve their quality of life, so they gladly choose to live in one of the new projects with added value,” said A. Strode.
Read the full article here