6 Facts About Estonian Real Estate

Do you know what is Estonia's tallest real estate object or how many apartments are in Estonia's largest apartment building? The Kinnisvara24 portal tests real estate enthusiasts' knowledge with these 6 interesting facts.

1. Estonia's first skyscraper is located at Vabaduse Square

Completed in 1931, this seven-story stone building was an unprecedented sight among Tallinn's low wooden houses of that era. The former Estonian Land Registry Joint-Stock Company building is known today as the Tallinn City Government's representative building. According to Martin Matsberg, marketing manager at Kinnisvara24, architects and planners later followed the example of this building when constructing new high-rise buildings around Vabaduse Square, such as the Art Building, Hotel Palace, and Tallinn Bank.

2. Tallinn's largest district is the City Center, but Lasnamäe has the most residents

Tallinn is home to nearly a third of Estonia's population, distributed across 8 districts and an area of 159 km². The largest district, the City Center, which covers a fifth of Tallinn's area, has nearly twice fewer residents than Lasnamäe, which is slightly smaller in area.

According to Matsberg, the size of the city center is also shown by the portal's statistics – City Center listings make up almost 30 percent of all Tallinn offerings. "Currently, there are over 700 sales or rental offers available in Tallinn's city center, which is considerably more than in other districts. City center real estate is more expensive, which makes the selling period longer and therefore listings hang on the portal for a longer period of time."

3. Tallinn's smallest district is Mustamäe

At just 8.15 square kilometers, Mustamäe is nearly four times smaller than the City Center district.

By population, Mustamäe ranks second after Lasnamäe, housing over a seventh of Tallinn's residents. The large population is also confirmed by Kinnisvara24 statistics, which show that there are few vacant apartments and houses in Mustamäe. "Among Tallinn's districts, Mustamäe has the fewest active offers – listings there make up only 9 percent of all Tallinn offerings," Matsberg pointed out.

4. The highest structure is located in Central Estonia

Many people first think of Tallinn's TV Tower as Estonia's highest structure, but in fact, Estonia's tallest structure is the Koeru television mast, completed in 1993 and standing 349.5 meters high, which is still in use as a television, radio, and mobile communication mast. Following it are the 347-meter high Valgejärve television mast and only then the 314-meter high Tallinn TV Tower.

According to Martin Matsberg, most of the buildings at the top of Estonia's tallest structures ranking do not have residential spaces. "In addition to the television and radio masts located in various places in Estonia, the top of the ranking of structures over 50 meters high includes chimneys of thermal power plants and boiler houses in Narva, Iru, Kristiine, and Mustamäe, as well as St. Olaf's Church. The highest hotel is the Swissôtel Tallinn located in Tallinn and the highest residential building is the twin tower completed in 2007 in Maakri Quarter on Tornimäe, both of which are 117 meters high."

6. Over 80% of Estonians own their own home

According to Eurostat data, on average 70% of Europe's population lives in their own home and only 30% in rental homes. In Estonia, the percentage of homeowners is significantly higher than the European average, comprising almost 82% of the entire population. The highest rate of real estate ownership is in Romania, where only 4% of the population lives in rental homes.