Andrius Mikalauskas, Head of SBA Group's real estate development company Urban LIVE, responsible for developing the Nemunaičiai: „Although the entire real estate market experienced stagnation recently, the last few months have shown a clear market upturn. Nearly a quarter of survey participants, 22% of Kaunas residents, plan to purchase a residential property in Kaunas within the next two years. When choosing a home, Kaunas residents primarily focus on location, price, size, and layout“.
The main criterion is location, and the most desirable is Mokslo Sala
The survey involved 500 Kaunas residents. A. Mikalauskas notes a trend that Kaunas residents planning to purchase a home primarily focuses on location, price, and the nearby city infrastructure.
Head of Urban LIVE: „When choosing a new residential property, as many as 69% of respondents are most concerned about the property's location, while 58% emphasise the price. The size and layout of the home is one of the most important aspects for 49% of respondents“.
The survey revealed that city infrastructure is also essential to the respondents. Kaunas residents eagerly await the construction or renovation of several infrastructure and cultural projects in the city.
Andrius Mikalauskas elaborates further: „The vast majority of respondents, 28%, are waiting for the opening of the Mokslo Sala in Kaunas, 26% for the reconstructed Rotušė Square, and 15% for the pedestrian bridge across the Nemunas River to be built. To a lesser extent, the city's residents are interested in the M.K. Čiurlionis Concert Centre, the athletics arena and the H. and O. Minkovskiai Street reconstruction“.
What are the main criteria when choosing a new home?
According to A. Mikalauskas, a Kaunas resident's apartment, must meet several critical criteria: „As one of the most important conditions for their future home, 60% of respondents highlighted the quality of the construction project. Respondents also value parking spaces (54%) and quality sound insulation (46%).“
Just over a third of respondents (38%) are concerned about their home being in a high-energy class building, while 37% are concerned about the heating system of their building.
Andrius Mikalauskas notes that for Kaunas residents who participated in the survey, it is essential that their home is in a strategically convenient location.
The expert notes: „Kaunas residents are looking for a home from which they can comfortably access all daily services. As many as 64% of respondents prioritise easy access to grocery stores, 54% to green urban spaces and 39% to public transport stops. Clinics, cafés, sports clubs, kindergartens, and dog walking areas are also included. Interestingly, the importance of the sports club decreases with age“.
The Head of the company says that the growth of the Kaunas real estate market is shown not only by the research data but also by the statistics of real estate sales.
Andrius Mikalauskas speculates: „The success of the Nemunaičiai mixed-use housing estate, which is growing in the new centre of Kaunas, has shown that quality projects built in promising locations do not remain vacant for long. After a successful first phase, the second phase was launched in October, and within a month, a quarter of the apartments were reserved. Perhaps the success is also due to the fact that these homes meet the criteria of a dream home mentioned during the survey“.
According to the Head of Urban LIVE, the project's success is also confirmed by a survey of Kaunas residents: „Respondents pointed out the Nemunaičiai project as one of the most well-known in the city. Almost a quarter of Kaunas residents are looking for a new home or will be looking for a new home in this real estate project. Among respondents aged 18–29, Nemunaičiai is the most popular choice, with almost a third, 29%, looking or planning to look for a home here“.
The second phase of development has started in the new Nemunaičiai district, which includes the residential project Pasaka and the business centre Hermanas, with a strong emphasis on the functionality of the buildings. In addition to the buildings mentioned above, a multi-storey car park is being built, and one of the project's most striking features is a private and spacious courtyard with green spaces. A quarter of a million is planned to be invested in the construction and development of the area over several years. Residents looking for a quiet corner on the banks of the Nemunas River are actively buying new apartments. According to the company's Head, this is not only the merit of a quality project – Kaunas is now becoming an increasingly popular hub in Lithuania.
The Norstat survey, commissioned by SBA Urban, was conducted in October and involved 500 participants.
