A person earning average income can buy 34.9 square meters of old-build standard housing in a so-called bedroom neighborhood in Vilnius, compared with 43.5 square meters in Riga and 50.5 square meters in Tallinn, the bank said in a press release.
Year-on-year, the floor area of housing affordable to an average-earning person in Vilnius and Riga increased by 3.4 and 0.8 square meters, respectively, but in Tallinn it declined by 3 square meters.
"Changes in housing affordability were due to changes in interest on housing loans, average wages and housing prices. Interest rates on new loans fell in all three Baltic countries, with the rate of decline being the highest in Lithuania and the lowest in Latvia," Julita Varanauskienė, family finance expert at Lithuania's SEB Bankas, said in the press release.
She attributed the increased housing affordability in Vilnius to lower interest rates on loans and a slight decrease in housing prices.
The SEB Housing Affordability Index is calculated based on housing prices, interest on loans, income, and consumer prices.
2012-06-12 15:43
Vilnius has least affordable housing in Baltics
Housing in Vilnius is less affordable to buy for an average-income person than housing in Riga and Tallinn, according to SEB's latest Baltic Housing Affordability Index.
A person earning average income can buy 34.9 square meters of old-build standard housing in a so-called bedroom neighborhood in Vilnius. / 15min.lt skaitytojos Aldonos nuotr.
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