News and analytical reports of the week (12-18.07.2010)

The Prian.ru portal has prepared the next rating of property markets most which attract the most interest among Russian buyers. Prices and sales volume increase on the market of Baltic States. A Treehotel was opened in Sweden.

Rating of countries most popular among Russian overseas property buyers (June)
According to the rating prepared by Prian.ru, 23 months in succession, the list is headed by Bulgaria, which has attracted nearly 20% of the total number of requests submitted in June by visitors to the property database of the Prian.ru portal. Russian buyers’ interest in Czech and Finnish markets continues to decline. Trend noted by specialists of the Prian.ru portal in May, still prevails on the market: Russian buyers’ interest in “warm” European countries remains quite high.

TOP-10 Markets Most Popular Among Russian Overseas Property Buyers

                        
Prices

In June, the index of apartment prices in five largest cities of Lithuania has climbed up by 0.4%, compared to May. In comparison with last June, prices have plunged by 12.5%, and plummeted by 40.1% in relation to December 2007 peaks.

Average prices for detached family houses in Sweden have climbed down by 6.1%, June-to-May. In yearly comparisons, prices in this segment of Swedish property market have dropped by 3.3%.

Spanish Housing Ministry has published the index of residential property prices as of Q2 2010. The figure has climbed down by 0.9%, compared to the preceding quarter. In annual calculations Spanish housing prices have declined by 3.6%.

In June, New Zealand residential property values have increased by 0.7%, compared to May. In relation to June 2009, the figure has declined by 3.7%, according to a report prepared by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ). That said, closing prices were 4-5% lower than initial asking prices.


Sales

In June, the number of transactions with Cyprian properties has increased by 7.6%, compared to the preceding month. In annual calculations, sales number has surged by 14.7%, according to Cyprian Land Registry. The number of transactions completed by foreigners over June has also increased - both in monthly and yearly terms.

Lithuanian Register Center has published the statistics of residential property sales in new buildings of Vilnius for the first half of 2010. In comparison to the same period in 2009, the figure soared by 47%.

Estonian Land Department has prepared the statistics of housing sales registered in the country over the first half of this year. The indicator surged by 20%, compared to the same period in 2009.


Unusual project

Last Saturday, a Treehotel was opened in Sweden. The hotel, designed just for two people, represents a cube with 4-meter-long verges, attached to the trunk of the tree. The frame of the property is lightweight aluminum construction, and its outer surface is covered with mirror panels that allow hotel to “blend into the environment”.

Alexey Lahov