Major Developer: 2024 Will Be a Year of Considered and Thoughtful Action

The past year has been challenging for real estate development in terms of sales, financing, and construction. What affects the real estate sector's coping ability and whether signs of stabilization are already visible in the market is discussed by Endover's CEO Robert Laud.

As a developer, we see that the new year will bring strong competition, which is why decisions must be very carefully thought through for the business. This is certainly food for thought for developers: whether and when to bring new projects to the market?

I believe that 2024 will be a year of deliberate and thoughtful action. The key issue for the real estate sector is certainly the financing of projects. Euribor is falling and all indicators point to it potentially reaching a more affordable level for home buyers over the coming year. The decline will bring relief to buyers at a time when real estate supply is growing modestly and interest rates are falling.

This is good news, but it certainly won't solve the problems that deepened in the real estate sector last year. Estonia has experienced seven consecutive quarters of economic decline, which is also the largest figure in the European Union. Today, the economic situation and problems of our main trading partners Finland, Sweden, and Germany are a concern for Estonia's export sector. Estonian industrial companies and exporters are struggling to sell their products due to falling demand from partner countries, and if the country is unable to export goods in sufficient quantities, the resulting concerns carry over to the domestic market as well. Estonia is a small country and we cannot support the economy with only the domestic market.

In connection with the closure of the Russian market, many exporters have also abandoned cheap Russian raw materials and restructured their business models to adapt to the new conditions. In today's situation, much depends on the market participants themselves. Recovery from this difficult period largely depends on the resourcefulness and drive of market participants themselves. The economy has indeed found itself in a difficult position, but it has forced and will continue to force us to seek new solutions and outlets, which in turn will bring development and will have a positive effect on us developers in the long perspective.

I don't see difficult times persisting, because today everyone is looking for solutions. Thanks to the resourcefulness characteristic of Estonians, brighter days will come in the economy. Volta Quarter is a clear example in our portfolio that there is continued interest in homes and business premises in certain areas, and the courage to start the third phase of Volta Quarter came precisely from the development perspective of North Tallinn in the coming years.

In the new year, Endover will move forward purposefully and thoughtfully with the large-scale projects underway. Despite the uncertain state of the economy, Endover has by now sold over 90 percent of the completed apartments. We will continue the development, construction, and sales activities of all projects. However, the key issue remains how to correctly assess and sense the market and when is the best time to bring new products to market.

My wish and goal is to move in the real estate market and the broader economy without unexpected shocks. We cannot change the economic situation that has developed overnight, but I hope that the further course of events is reasonably predictable. The real estate sector should bring a calmer pace into the new year, and there is no point in rushing headlong anywhere.