Housing Market Development in Estonia: Is There a Real Estate Boom?

The Estonian economy including the real estate market, especially the housing market, has undergone a rapid development since its very existence in the 1990s. The number of notarised purchase-sale contracts of real estate has increased over 80 times over the past 10 years. The fastest growth rates in the real estate market have been in the housing sector. The total value of notarised purchase-sale contracts of registered immovables with residential buildings and ownership of dwellings has increased from 271 million euros in 2001 to 1982 million euros in 2005, whereas the average purchase-sale price per square metre of a 2-room apartment in Tallinn rose in 2004 22% and in 2005 59%. In resent years there have been repeated hints in the housing market of an approaching real estate crash. The development of the housing market has been investigated from three main aspects. First, the development of and changes in Estonian economic environment are evaluated and links to the general development of the whole real estate market and especially of housing market are provided. Secondly, in greater detail the demand and factors influencing demand in the housing market are analysed. Thirdly, the supply of the housing market, the factors that facilitate and inhibit this development are investigated. The housing market development in Estonia, differences from and similarities with Latvia and Lithuania are also presented in this paper.