Lithuania’s investment transaction market has been revitalised by local buyers

Following an unsuccessful 2024, the Lithuanian commercial real estate investment market has shown growth in the first half of 2025. According to Ober-Haus, 183 million euros’ worth of modern commercial property (offices, retail outlets, warehouses, industrial buildings and premises valued at at least 1.5 million euros) was acquired in Lithuania in the first half of 2025. Investment volumes in the first half of 2025 were 137% higher than in the first half of 2024, and 21% higher than in the second half of 2024. However, despite the recorded growth in volume, the investment transaction market remains largely dominated by local capital and small-to-medium-sized transactions, according to the Ober-Haus market review.

Interest in small-format shops remains very high

In the first half of 2025, the average value of an acquired property was just over €7 million, similar to 2024. The value of the largest transaction did not exceed €30 million. “The largest share of investments went to retail properties, with €86 million, or 47% of all investments in commercial real estate in Lithuania, being spent there. This segment also saw the largest investment transaction in the first half of this year,” says Raimondas Reginis, Market Research Manager for the Baltic States at Ober-Haus. Following approval from the Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania to proceed with the merger, an investment transaction was completed in mid-2025 whereby the investment company NDX Group acquired the Savas shopping centre in Kaunas, which has an area of over 13,000 sqm. The shopping centre, which opened in 2004, was previously owned by the real estate development company Hanner. The amount of the transaction has not been disclosed, but the asset’s value is estimated at around €30 million in the financial statements.

Another significant transaction was completed in Šiauliai, where the Lithuanian real estate investment firm Mažoji Venecija purchased the Arena shopping centre, which spans over 11,000 square metres. The shopping centre on Gegužių Street, which is home to various companies, was sold for €11 million. As in previous years, small-format stores (1,500–4,000 sqm), mostly occupied by major food chains, attracted strong buyer interest in the retail segment. As many as nine units of this format were acquired in the first half of 2025 alone (compared to ten units in 2024).

Warehousing and industrial properties accounted for a third of investments in the first half of this year

The warehouse and industrial segment saw high levels of investment in the first half of this year, with acquisitions accounting for 33% of all commercial real estate investments in Lithuania.

The largest transactions were concluded in the first quarter, when Prosperus, an investment company, acquired the VMG Grupė industrial innovation park, VMG Technics R&D Park, in the Klaipėda district for EUR 26 million. Following the sale, VMG Technics will continue to lease the 21,000 sqm building. The same Prosperus-managed fund also acquired warehouse buildings in Kaunas from the investment manager Eften Capital. Eften Capital’s fund acquired these Terminalo St. warehouses, which cover an area of over 28,000 sqm, in 2017 and sold them this year for just over EUR 18 million. Other smaller properties (up to €8 million) were acquired in the Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda regions.

Investor interest in the office sector remains low

The office segment was characterised by unusually low investment volumes. According to Ober-Haus estimates, office properties were acquired for EUR 36 million in the first half of this year, accounting for 20% of all investments in commercial real estate in Lithuania. Only one major transaction was made in this segment: the Lithuanian investment company Groa Capital acquired the Meraki business centre in Vilnius. A fund managed by Northern Horizon Capital announced the sale of the business centre, which has an area of more than 8,000 sqm with the potential for further development, for around EUR 16 million. Other smaller office properties (up to €5 million) were acquired in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda.

“The highly developed office sector in the capital city, which already offers the market almost 1.2 million sqm of modern office space, is one of the main drivers of commercial real estate investment transactions in the sector. However, the office sector has faced a number of challenges in recent years, including sluggish tenant development and rising vacancy rates, which have deterred potential office buyers and worsened the country’s overall commercial real estate investment volumes,” says Reginis.

In the first half of this year, 90% of all investments originated from Lithuania

Growth in investment volumes this year has been driven exclusively by local capital, as there are currently no signs that foreign investors who left the Lithuanian real estate market will return in the near future. According to Ober-Haus, the proportion of investment transactions involving Lithuanian capital increased from 73-82% between 2022 and 2024, reaching 90% in the first half of 2025. Between 2012 and 2021, for example, the share of local investors was just 37%.

According to Reginis, this is not good news for real estate sellers, as the market is facing a liquidity problem with a significantly smaller pool of potential buyers and increasing expectations of investment returns. “This is particularly pertinent for those looking to sell larger properties, as only a small proportion of local investors can afford such purchases. Therefore, buyers of large properties that are currently being sold could indicate the direction in which the investment market is heading — whether we should continue to rely on local capital or whether foreign investors are regaining confidence in our region,” says the Ober-Haus representative.