On November 2, 2022, the Association of Estonian Real Estate Firms held a conference ‘What’s next?’, where the situation of the real estate market was discussed. The CEO of Everaus Kinnisvara, Janar Muttik, together with the board member of Koidu Arendus OÜ, Karin Vinkel, participated in the panel ‘Real estate investments in the whirlwind of crises’, which was moderated by investor Kristi Saare.
Janar Muttik stated to the panel that at present not a week goes by without receiving a call from an investor asking for information regarding the real estate market. ‘A small investor has some money to invest, and they want to know what will happen, whether they should buy or not,’ he noted, ‘everyone certainly understands that the money is wasting away in their bank accounts.’
Experts describe the market as being in a state of stagnation, because all the potential buyers are awaiting the promised price fall. According to the board member of Everaus Kinnisvara, people go and see the real estate, but only individual purchases are made. Developers are fighting for customers, and every customer is worth a fortune. ‘That means that the idle period is over,’ he stated. In sales, the professionalism of the developers counts at every step: both in sales, marketing, development and also follow-up.
Karin Vinkel, the representative of Koidu Arendus, stated that she asked the participants of the Real Estate Seminar held in September if real estate prices would fall. At that time, 90% of the audience answered yes to this question. ‘Then I asked, who has the money to buy when the prices go down?’ Basically everyone raised their hands. Even small investors have money, and we know that large investors and developers have,’ she said. According to Vinkel, if anyone is having a hard time today, it is those who were already less active in the real estate market and those on low wages.
The rental market doesn’t seem to be going down in price, however it’s always the right time to buy a home.
Janar Muttik, a member of the board of Everaus Kinnisvara OÜ, stated in the discussion panel that he does not see housing rental prices falling. Karin Vinkel agreed, adding that the prices would rather continue to rise. ‘The rental prices are still rising, especially when a tenant leaves and a new one arrives,’ added the moderator of the panel, investor Kristi Saare.
The panellists were confident that it is always the right time to buy a home, as it is a long-term investment. In their opinion it is questionable to wait and hope that you can suddenly buy a home 10% cheaper. Vinkel pointed to the dilemma that banks may not give loans again when the downturn comes.
Read longer summaries of the discussion ‘Real estate investments in the whirlwind of crises’ in Delfi Ärileht and Kinnisvarauudised.
