Latvia does not yet present a great location for long term property investment, according to specialists.
Latvia does not yet present a great location for long term property investment, according to specialists.
The country's significant house price inflation placed it at the top of Knight Frank's global house price index recently, following a 39.2 per cent increase in the final quarter of 2006.
The year before had seen prices rise by a massive 65.9 per cent.
Head of Knight Frank's residential research Liam Bailey said: "Latvia has seen, and is forecast to see over the medium term, economic growth above the EU average.
"We commented last quarter that a levelling up is affecting almost all the markets in the former Eastern Bloc – especially those which have joined the EU in recent years.
"Wage inflation, growing prosperity and access to less constrained mortgage finance have all contributed to rapidly rising prices."
But despite these marked increases, property investment specialist Amberlamb says that Latvia's economic conditions, including its high inflation levels, mean it has a long way to go yet before being considered along with other European hotspots.
The company told Assetz: "We have economists warning that Latvia's government should not be in such a hurry to raise wages and living standards to those of western EU members because this will actually reduce the competitive edge that it offers currently and see foreign investment slip away."
