Originally Posted by nickinberlin

well that's exactly my point about a two-speed market!

i disagree slightly - prices have been falling by 2-3% a month for the post-war soviet series, many at the periphery of the city, and for low-quality builds in zolitudes, purviciems, etc. but prices are holding for quality new builds around the new centre and in kliversala/kipsala (the old town is a different story - it's a micro market within the city). new developments are fetching record high prices and seem to attract interest from russian buyers - some of them at nearly €10,000 per square metre. the irony is that with a freeze on new builds, existing ones are very much in demand if the location and quality justifies the price tag!

i have been buying property in riga since 2005 & despite the current turmoil i still find the fundamentals really good. the fact that prices are higher than in stockholm is not a valid indicator of how far the market can go - moscow is more expensive than paris. i was in riga last week and what i saw is strong rental demand that is lifting yields to attractive levels (in 12 months i have passed a 20% rental increase onto a tenant), a 25% yoy wage increase that has eroded the cost of property and many buyers sitting on the fence. there's a sense that after a correction affordability factors are favourable again and that if it wasn't for cautious lenders (primarily nordic banks) the market could be ready for take-off again.