The Republic of Lithuania is located on the Baltic Sea and borders Latvia, Belarus, Poland and Russia.

What's so special about it?

Lithuania has always anchored itself towards the West; it joined the UN in 1991, the World Trade Organisation in 2001 and was the first Baltic state to join NATO. GDP in Lithuania has grown at a strong rate of on average approximately 7.5% since 2001 and the World Bank's Doing Business in 2006 report found it to be the highestranking new EU state. According to the Lithuanian Development Agency Lithuania also accounts for half the GDP in the Baltics.

Best kept secrets:

For museums Vilnius is home to the only KGB Museum, situated in a former KGB headquarters and Kaunas is home to the world's only Devil museum, which exhibits over 3,000 devils. Europos Parkas is an open air museum with the world's largest artwork of TV sets. The town of Trakai has Eastern Europe's only water castle, built in the middle of a lake in the 14th Century.

The only worrying trend is that Lithuania ranks lowest in the World Values Survey 'Happiness Quota' and at 4% is one of the lowest in Europe . . .

Ireland is the highest in Europe and third in the world.

What's the property market like?

Latvia is often proclaimed as a location for property buyers but little emerges about Lithuania. This is mainly due to the fact that, while the country's investment board is targeting foreign investmen, t there is such a shortage of quality accommodation that local agents do not need to attract foreign buyers as the local market already has high demand.

According to the The Jet-to-Let Bible by Dominic Farrell, Lithuania has both high demand and low supply. At 40% it has one of the lowest numbers of dwellings per 1,000 inhabitants and Lithuanians have a strong property ownership mentality.

The Global Property Guide reports that 57% of Lithuanians are unsatisfied with the current level of housing available. Therefore demand is high for new build apartment complexes.

Prices are increasing at about 15-20% and in some areas of the capital by up to 30%. In their predictions for growth in Europe, Knight Frank Residential Research ranked Lithuania number one with a growth rate of 20% How do you go about buying property?

Established in 2004 and endorsed by the government, the Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association is a good place to start looking for property advice. They also have a section listing agents that are members of the Association. When buying in Lithuania through an agent the first thing to bear in mind is that prices here are displayed without commission added . . .

usually 6%.

As an EU state buying property in Lithuania has no restrictions for foreigners. Every sale must be notarised as failure to do so will make the sale void. Notarisation fees are about 1%. While not a precondition it is advised that to protect yourself you register the agreement with the Real Estate Register, which takes about three days to complete and 14 days to process . . . if you pay double the fee it can be done in a day!

Where are the best places to buy?

According to FDI Magazine, Vilnius and Kaunas are the best locations from an economical point of view. For investors the best prices are in Vilnius and the most popular living areas are the prestigious districts of Zverynas and Antakalnis. Kaunas is also popular with the Irish as Ryanair currently fly into the city. The coastal area of Klaipeda is popular as a summer location. A ferry passenger terminal, increased cruise ship visits and expansion of the nearby airport will increase numbers.

What's the rental market like?

Lithuania has a strong home ownership culture so, like in Ireland, renting is really only a short-term necessity. However property agency Ober Haus reports that while some sectors are actually seeing falls in rents, such as in the two/three-bed apartments which dropped 10%, the biggest demand is for smaller one/two-bed apartments which have rents of about 350 per month. The best areas in Vilnius for buy-to-let apartments are in the Centre, the Old Town and in Zverynas or for high-end stock, the more prestigious Zverynas and Antakalnis districts.

What's the resell market like?

At present nearly 85% of off-plan apartments are sold quickly, therefore this has spread demand to the resale market, which is currently just as strong. However as the stock of new build properties increases over the years this demand will decline. An option at present is to buy older cheaper homes, renovate them and sell them on.

What type of property is available?

In Lithuania there is still a lot of old dilapidated Soviet-era pre-fabricated concrete panel block buildings and up to half the property available was built during this era. These homes are generally not up to modern standards, however as there is such demand for property and new developments sell quickly off-plan these properties sell for not much less than new build properties in the same area.

Average property prices?

In Vilnius a new apartment will cost about 65,000 - 95,000, while an older suburban apartment will cost about 50,000 - 65,000. The biggest demand for new build is in good locations and for small cheaper one or two-room apartments with a starting price of 1,000 - 1,200 per square metre.

What are the tax breaks with Ireland?

Ireland has a double taxation agreement with Lithuania. There is no stamp duty, legal fees are about 500, overall costs should be estimated at about 5%, property tax is about 1%, income tax is 15% and capital gains tax is 15% unless you are a resident who has owned the property for more than three years.

FAST FACTS

Getting there: Aer Lingus flies direct to Vilnius and Ryaniar flies direct to Kaunas.
Area: 65,200sq km
Population: 3,575,439
Currency: Lithuanian litas (1 LTL = 0.29)
Weather: Maritime and continental with temperatures ranging from -5degreesC to 17degreesC Transport: Lithuania has three main airports, its ferry ports are being developed, there are buses and trains linking to other EU cities and it has excellent roads
Going out: Lithuanians are beer drinkers so beer is cheap and of good quality. Cheap vodka is plentiful and the homemade tipple is "Samane". Smoking was banned in cafes, restaurants and nightclubs this year. Jazz is popular while Vilnius will be the European City of Culture for 2009.
Eating Out: Meat is very popular and cepelinai, or zeppelin is a meat or cheese-filled potato with lashings of dairy. There are some English menus but prices are often inflated so bring a phrase book.
Shopping: Vilnius is a good for shop lovers as it has big malls and lowerprices. Akropolis is one of the best and has facilities such as an ice track and cinema.

USEFUL CONTACTS

>> Irish Embassy in Lithuania: 00370-526 29460; ireland. vilnius@gmail. com
>> Lithuanian Embassy in Dublin: 01-668 8292
>> Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association: www. lietuvosnt. lt
>> BuyAssociation: www. buyassociation. co. uk
>> The Government of the Republic of Lithuania: www. president. lt
>> Real Estate Registry: www. kada. lt
>> The Real Estate Information: www. aruodas. lt
>> Lithuanian Real Estate Investment Guide: www. development. lt
>> Bank of Lithuania: www. lb. lt
>> Lithuanian Tourist Board: www. tourism. lt
>> Lithuanian Tourism Information Centre: www. lithuaniatourism. co. uk
>> Lithuanian Association in Ireland: 087 9171245; inasj@gmail. com