Lithuanian Apartment Prices Accelerate Across Major Cities

Apartment prices continued to rise across Lithuania’s five largest cities in September 2026. The Ober-Haus Lithuanian Apartment Price Index increased 1.2% month on month and 13.7% year on year. Vilnius remains the costliest market at an average €3,197 per square metre, while Panevėžys led annual growth at 17.5%. OHBI tracks apartments in five major cities, not every residential property in Lithuania.

Panevėžys Overtakes Šiauliai for Annual Growth

Ober-Haus reported annual apartment price increases of 12.2% in Vilnius, 16.8% in Kaunas, 12.9% in Klaipėda, 17.3% in Šiauliai and 17.5% in Panevėžys. Month-on-month gains ranged from 0.9% in Vilnius to 2.8% in Panevėžys. The aggregate annual rate was unchanged from August at 13.7%, so the latest figures show sustained rapid growth rather than a fresh acceleration in the year-on-year rate.

The Capital Retains the Highest Price Level

Average apartment prices reached €3,197 per square metre in Vilnius, €2,339 in Kaunas and €2,103 in Klaipėda. Šiauliai and Panevėžys remained much more affordable in absolute terms, at €1,457 and €1,432 respectively. Faster price appreciation outside the capital should not be mistaken for equivalent rental yield growth.

The existing article’s July Bank of Lithuania repeat-sales figures can remain as dated historical context, but they should not be treated as a September update. The central bank’s index uses repeated transactions for the same dwelling, while OHBI is a weighted five-city apartment index. Comparisons require a clear methodology label.

Bank of Lithuania index shows 18.1% growth

A broader measure from the Bank of Lithuania points to even stronger housing appreciation. Its repeat-sales house price index increased 18.1% nationwide in July from a year earlier. Vilnius gained 14.74%, Kaunas 25.02% and Klaipėda 15.96%. Outside the three largest city municipalities, annual growth reached 22.32%. The central bank labels the latest figures incomplete, meaning they can subsequently be revised.

The gap between the 18.1% and 12.9% readings reflects methodology rather than an error. The central bank compares repeated sales of the same dwelling, provided it has been sold at least twice, and its monthly index incorporates transactions from the reporting month and the previous two months. OHBI covers apartments in five cities using a weighted methodology.

Both measures nevertheless point to the same broad development: Lithuanian housing-price growth has accelerated sharply in 2026.

Housing prices are far outpacing inflation

Consumer inflation accounts for only part of the increase. Lithuania’s Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices was 5.4% higher in July than a year earlier. That was the second-highest annual rate in the European Union after Romania’s 8.2%, rather than the highest. EU inflation averaged 3%.

The 12.9% annual increase in the five-city apartment index was therefore more than twice the harmonised inflation rate.

Ober-Haus’s inflation-adjusted series provides the same signal. The real OHBI increased from 185.2 points in July 2025 to 198.5 in July 2026, a gain of roughly 7.2%. Housing is therefore appreciating not just in nominal euros but relative to the broader consumer-price level.

Home prices are rising about twice as fast as wages

Affordability is becoming the central constraint. The Bank of Lithuania said the main housing indices were rising at an annual rate of 12% to 17% during the spring, while average take-home wages had increased about 8%.

Housing remains more affordable for an average-income earner than it was in 2015. The position is worse for a median-income resident: median earnings have increased about 150% over the past decade, compared with roughly 170% growth in housing prices.

Activity remained high in spring, with transactions running 10% to 15% above their long-term average, although the central bank no longer saw further sales growth. Investment transactions also reached the record level last seen in 2021. About one-third of Lithuanian housing transactions are classified as investment purchases, rising to about 40% in Vilnius and 37% in Kaunas.

The definition is broader than “buy-to-let.” The central bank classifies a transaction as investment-related when a household purchases a residential property worth less than at least one home it already owns, as well as residential acquisitions by companies.

New Lithuanian housing loans averaged 4.09%

Borrowing costs, which had helped revive demand as they eased from previous peaks, edged higher in July. The average interest rate on new household loans for house purchase increased 0.06 percentage point to 4.09%.

The outstanding stock of household housing loans increased by €201.7 million, or 1.3%, during the month to €16.3 billion. It was 14.1% higher than a year earlier.

The comparable euro-area composite borrowing cost for new house-purchase loans was 3.54% in July. Loans with a floating rate or an initial fixation of up to one year averaged 3.69%.

Lithuanian buyers are consequently dealing with double-digit property appreciation while new housing-loan rates remain above the euro-area composite average.

Investment demand continues to support the market

Investment purchases remain an important component of Lithuanian housing demand. During the first quarter of 2026, their number reached the record level previously recorded in 2021, while transactions by buyers purchasing homes for their own use were broadly unchanged from a year earlier.

That helps sustain demand even as affordability worsens for owner-occupiers. It can also make the market more sensitive to changes in financing costs, taxation and expected returns.

The Bank of Lithuania has already warned that housing-price imbalances have increased, making the market more vulnerable to shocks.

Supply is rising, but much of it remains unfinished

Developers are responding to stronger demand. Primary-market housing supply in Lithuania’s major cities reached about 10,000 units in June, 25% more than a year earlier.

The headline figure does not represent 10,000 completed homes. In Vilnius, around 70% of new housing advertised for sale was still under construction. Historical data suggest that stronger development activity normally translates into a meaningful increase in completed physical supply after five to seven quarters.

The Bank of Lithuania therefore expects the largest increase in completed supply in the summer and autumn of 2027.

Until then, a significant part of primary-market reservations is likely to involve homes that have not yet been completed.

Lithuania’s housing market is entering a more stretched phase

July’s figures show a broad-based upswing rather than a Vilnius-only story. Šiauliai, Panevėžys and Kaunas are all recording faster annual apartment-price growth than the capital.

At the same time, the gap between housing prices and household earnings is widening. Investment demand remains strong, mortgage lending is expanding and completed supply is reacting with a lag. Those forces support current prices but also make the market more sensitive to changes in financing conditions.

The more significant counterweight may emerge in 2027, when today’s construction pipeline begins turning into completed housing. Until then, worsening affordability is likely to remain the principal constraint for owner-occupier demand.

As International Investment experts report, Lithuania’s double-digit price growth can no longer be explained simply as a recovery from the period of expensive borrowing. Apartments are appreciating substantially faster than inflation and wages, while the upswing has spread from Vilnius to regional cities. Strong investment demand and delayed completion of new projects may support prices for some time, but a widening gap between home values and household earnings raises the risk of weaker owner-occupier demand. For investors, current momentum remains favorable, but the larger volume of completed supply expected in 2027 and the unusually rapid recent appreciation should be incorporated into longer-term return assumptions.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How fast did Lithuanian apartment prices rise in September 2026? OHBI rose 1.2% in the month and 13.7% year on year.

Which city had the strongest growth? Panevėžys led with a 17.5% annual rise and a 2.8% monthly increase.

What was the average apartment price in Vilnius? €3,197 per square metre in September 2026, according to Ober-Haus.