Almost a third of the Baltic population (28%) has decided to buy their home because they no longer wanted to live with their parents or continue renting, according to a survey by Luminor Bank. 16% of Latvians also mentioned a high time for buying real estate as an important reason and the desire to arrange their property according to their wishes and needs.

In Lithuania and Estonia, slightly fewer people take advantage of the favourable situation in the housing market (10%), while the freedom to arrange housing at their own discretion is more important for Latvia’s neighbours – in Lithuania this answer was given by 24%, but in Estonia – 21%.

“About half of the residents of the Baltic States buy property between the ages of 25 and 34, but the survey shows that Estonians are ready to buy their home a little earlier, but Latvians postpone this decision until later. This can be explained by the different income level in each country, as the average net salary in Estonia is the highest, but in Latvia – the lowest, so Estonians can save up faster for the first instalment and other expenses related to the purchase of property. After reaching the age of 45, the volume of property purchases decreases significantly, and at this age only less than 7% of the Baltic population choose to buy a new home. This is understandable, because part of their property has already been bought, and the closer to the pre-retirement age, the lower the allowable loan term decreases and it is more difficult to get a mortgage loan, ”

concludes Kaspars Lukačovs, Luminor’s head of housing loan in the Baltics.

Almost half of the respondents do not regret buying a home and would have made the same choice even now – the most satisfied are the residents of Estonia (49%), followed by the residents of Latvia (42%) and Lithuania (39%). However, some respondents admit that they would probably have acted differently at the moment. 17% of Latvians, 18% of Estonians and 21% of Lithuanians admit that they would have carried out a more thorough property study. About one tenth of the Baltic population concludes that they would now carry out a more thorough study of the surroundings and infrastructure, get acquainted with the real estate market and prices, as well as find out the legal status of the place of residence.

“The relatively high satisfaction with the purchase of a home shows that the residents make a fairly responsible decision on the purchase of the property and carefully get acquainted with the technical condition of the particular property, utility payments, neighbourhood and availability of services. Since when buying a property major part assumes credit obligations or plans to spend several years or even a lifetime at the new place, making a hasty decision is definitely not recommended. “

explains K.Lukačovs.