An Apartment in a New Development Remains One of the Most Preferred Home Types
A study conducted by YIT revealed that the vast majority of Estonians prefer to buy a new home that does not need renovation before moving in. The most popular home types are homes up to 5 years old, renovated homes up to 30 years old, and homes recently completed in new developments.
„If 45% and 44% of respondents respectively would prefer homes up to 5 years old and renovated homes up to 30 years old when buying a home today, then a home in a newly completed building falls short of the top spot by only a few percentage points. People want what their future home will be like to be as clearly visible as possible and not require excessive use of imagination," explained Eva-Liisa Tamm, Sales Director at YIT Estonia.
The least appealing idea to respondents was the thought of a 30-75-year-old home requiring renovation. "This is probably because these are mostly Soviet-era buildings, which do not have great historical value even after renovation. Homes older than 75 years, both renovated and unrenewated, were somewhat more popular in the eyes of respondents," said Tamm.
According to her, compared to previous years, the number of people willing to buy an apartment in the planning phase of a new development has decreased. If in 2021, 29% of people were willing to consider buying a home "on paper," according to this year's survey, that number had decreased to 21%.
„This is a trend we see daily. Our spacious tower building in Väike-Õismäe in Tallinn, the beautiful apartment building completed on Jaama Street in Tartu, and the garden-like and environmentally friendly home created on Nurme Street in Keila have become exciting in the eyes of buyers precisely now, when people see the completed buildings. They can walk into their new home, admire the views from the room and balcony, think through the future furniture arrangement of their home, and feel whether there is enough space in this home for their family and friends. To make this feeling as authentic as possible, we have created 1-2 furnished sample apartments in each building – in addition to helping with spatial understanding, this opportunity always provides plenty of inspiration for home design," said Tamm.
According to Tamm, what frightens home buyers the most is what is initially invisible to the eye. Over 70% of Estonians fear that after buying a new home, they will be troubled by poor construction quality and hidden defects.
„In the case of homes sold in new developments, the owner does not need to worry about such issues – the guarantee offered for new apartments helps with this. Even if defects appear within a couple of years, the builder is obliged to fix them. However, if a person buys an older apartment whose warranty period has expired or which has been renovated by the previous owner with questionable professionalism, the appearance of hidden defects may result in an expensive legal battle being the only remedy," said the YIT representative.
