Peep Sooman of Pindi Kinnisvara , told the daily: "Whereas there were 1,008 rental apartments on offer in Tallinn this January, the number had fallen to 679 as of April 18, but as of October 24, there were as many as 1,498 vacant apartments," adding that the same phenomenon had been apparent in Tartu.

Martin Rekor, partner at Lumi Capital said meanwhile that: "Prices are clearly dropping, which is good news for tenants," putting paid to fears of general inflation rates of 25 percent posted this year translating into a concomitant rise in rental prices, which would be complicated further by fears over winter heating and energy costs.

At the same time, Peep Sooman of Pindi Kinnisvara pointed to a distinction between existing leases, which may retain their original rental price for the time being, until such a time as tenants may not be able to afford rents, and newly-concluded agreements whereby tenants have had more wiggle-room in rent levls, while leases granted to people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, peaking in spring, affected the market in summer, meaning the traditional August-September rush for apartments was dissipated over a longer time-period, Sooman said, then followed by a surge in supply in autumn.

Another cause of the uptick in rental supply was a decline in the practice of keeping a pied-à-terre in Tallinn as well as a main residence outside the city, which soaring energy costs have rendered economically unviable, meaning the owners have resorted to letting out their Tallinn flat, as well as a decline in the purchase of properties, meaning sellers unable to find a buyer have had to do the same, though how long this situation might remain was, Sooman said, a matter for conjecture and not at all clear.

The original Postimees piece is here.

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