heh, I guess it can't do any harm in telling people. Just a few weeks ago, Latvia officially became a European Union member. This has many interesting repurcussions for this former soviet state. Along with a dropping in trade barriers, there are many regulations and measures that are being put in place that will put an end to the rampant money laundering and other such corruption that is just dying out now in Latvia. To eliminate liquid assets, various organizations have been purchasing expensive cars, property, and the like. Property is increasing in value at 30% per quarter presently. This is the unstable market that will either bottom out or collapse outright in about a year. I've just returned from Latvia myself, and have talked to more than a few prominent members of real estate and investment, and they agree about the current situation (sidenote- to deal with corruption, latvian legislation has increased various taxes to the point where if you dealt legally and recorded all your income, you would be taxed for over 100% of your total revenue)
This is why I need to wait about a year for property prices to fall again to a reasonable level. That'll be the time to purchase as much property as I can. Why? Because as a new member of the EU, Latvia is a prime location for development, and has most of the infrastructure already constucted for furthur growth. New EU restrictions and regulations are giving the economy a fresh start. Free trade will allow for greatly increased economic activity. It's a country on the brink of a economic boom. You just can't buy land in Germany, or Poland, or France at any reasonable price. If you buy land within 100Km of Riga, it will appreciate easily over 6% a year- most likely in my estimate to be at 7-12%.
Well at least that's my take on it. Feel free to shoot it down, if there are glaring holes in my analysis i wouldn't mind being made aware of them so I don't lose my money.
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"Asking a bomb squad if an old bomb is still "real" is not the best thing to do if you want to save it." - denim
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