Property prices in Latvia

Hello Priscilla.
The real estate prices are in a very wide range. It all depends on the possibilities and region you want to live in.
Eventually in capital Riga and the seaside city Jurmala the real estate prices are highest both to rent or buy.
But as you go further from these the prices drop significantly.

Sometimes you can buy a good house with land about 1 hour car drive from Riga cheaper  than a 2 bedroom apartment in Riga.

If you look at real estate websites for properties in Latvia (i did just today) the prices are not representing the real situation. It is much more affordable than advertised on those websites. I guess it is due to targeting people who do not know that just yet and looking to buy property.

I find that living in Latvia is a pleasure with a condition that you have income at least 1k eur per month per person. Then everything is very affordable. I am not talking about luxury living off course.

what is your intentions regarding Latvia?

Well the place where me and my family bought houses, we got really good prices. Land and house along with garden and garage didn't cost more than € 1000/sq meter for our Riga(Lubanas Iela) house and € 850/sq meter for our Jelgava house. We made our purchases back in 2012 and I think we got pretty good deals, considering the fact that the property market was still not fully out of the crisis.
As of now both properties have definitely appreciated in worth and I think even now if someone is looking to buy property in Latvia, the best option is not to go looking online, but to approach the banks and ask them for what properties they've got as collaterals for loans that people have defaulted as a result forfeiting their properties to such banks. Now, none of these banks are really interested in keeping ownership of these properties but at the same time they don't want to sell them at very cheap rates either. Inspite of this, if you can bargain nice and hard, you'll end up getting a place that is definitely much cheaper than the existing market rates.
You may spend a bit more time and energy in this way, but you'll definitely save a lot in return too.

Hi mrbizzy,

i jump into this thread as I'm trying to find reliable information about the real estate market in Latvia, Riga to be precise.

Not speaking Latvian is quite a disadvantage when looking at real estate websites as most of the results in English are either out of date or as you said directed at high value foreign investment.
I'm thinking of buying an apartment from 1 to 2 bedrooms as a holiday place, I was wondering if you or any forum members could recommend a real estate website that reflects the reality of the market.

Thanks

Hei Charles.
I see the real estate market in Riga having a huge increase over couple past years now and still going up - price-wise i mean.  however not every offer despite the equal price is offering the same level of estate.
There are different suburbs in Riga, with different project apartment houses, different environments. Some houses that are built in soviet times are 35 years old and more. Some are built just 5 years ago but are in a bad shape already due to bad quality labor and materials, which is a shame.

The very central apartment houses are even older but are high quality and off course the demand is driving the price up.

It all depends on what you are willing to spend and what you expect to get out of it. There are a few villages with apartment houses just outside RIga, about 15-20 ride with a car or bus or bike that are much more quiet, not so polluted air and you could get a better estate for the same money.

Regarding market - the most popular is www.ss.lv - there are listings from private sellers and real estate agencies. but again the listings itself will be in Latvian or Russian for majority of listings.

Thanks a lot for the tip! Ideally yes the country side around Riga will be the place to go but I still want to enjoy the night life in the Center and not driving after a few drinks. ;-)