If in the first half-year of 2022 notaries handled 41,547 transactions involving immovables, this dropped to 33,010 in the first six months of this year, the Estonian Chamber of Notaries said. The slump has been steeper in Tallinn, Jõgeva, Paide, the islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and in Võru. Only in Valga the first six months of the year saw more transactions than in 2022.

The total number of notarized acts fell relatively more in Tallinn, Hiiumaa, Jõgeva, Põlva, Saaremaa, Tartu, Viljandi and Võru. Valga was again the only area to see a minute uptick.

The number of transactions authenticated remotely also fell by 3 percent.

"Notaries authenticated slightly more wills and marriage property distributions than over the first six months of last year," the chamber's chair Merle Saar-Johanson said.

The trend started in the first quarter of 2023 when the total number of notarized acts was down 11 percent on year and that of real estate transactions 22 percent.

Estonia has 87 practicing notaries.

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