According to a recent article in the Estonian Press Digest from News2Biz, July 2012 saw something of a fall in real estate prices in Estonia as a whole, but at the same time real purchasing power (in Tallinn) for those wishing to purchase property also fell.
Citing real estate giant Pindi Kinnisvara‘s index as falling by 5.4 per cent between June and July, the report also stated that the real purchasing power of a Tallinn resident earning an average wage would stretch to a property of 68 square metres in area.
The Pindi Index is based on the weighted average transactions across the 17 largest Estonian towns (Tallinn is of course the largest with over 400 000 inhabitants, whereas 17th placed town is Kiviõli in Ida-Virumaa with only a little over six and a half thousand souls).
The average price of apartments per square metre in June 2012 for the whole of Estonia was 886 Euros, falling to 838 Euros per square metre in July, according to the report.
Not surprisingly the lower prices were accompanied by a somewhat higher rate of transactions – 991 in July, compared with 934 the previous month (this only covers the 17 cities incorporated in the Pindi index) the report stated.
According to the article, residents of Tartu and Pärnu can stretch to apartments a little larger in size when measured by their purchasing power levels (at 73 and 84 square metres respectively).
The Pindi Index reached an all time peak in April 2007 at the height of the boom, and an all time low in July 2009 (624.2 Euros per square metre).
Andrew Whyte
Tallinn Property by Goodson & Red
