According to Kristjan-Thor Vähi, founder and CEO of Invego Group, the winner of the Property Developers TOP, 2025 will go down in the company’s history above all because of the completion of Krulli Park. At the same time, the company is rapidly expanding its operations in Latvia, and according to its CEO, competition in the real estate market will become even sharper next year.
“Although we are known first and foremost as a developer of residential areas, last year will go down in Invego’s history as the year of the Krulli Park business quarter,” said Kristjan-Thor Vähi.
According to Vähi, Krulli Park, with 36,000 square metres of leasable space and also known as the Wise quarter, is a project the company can be particularly proud of. The development received the Real Estate Deed of the Year 2025 title and the annual award of the Estonian Landscape Architects’ Union, and was nominated for the annual awards of the Estonian Association of Interior Architects and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, as well as for the Development Project of the Year title. In addition, the project has received recognition from the City of Tallinn for a renovation that enriches historical heritage, the Golden Egg award for environmental design, and bronze at the Estonian Design Awards.
On the residential side, sales of the 508-home Tiskreoja residential area were completed last year. According to Vähi, the Keila Pargikodud development gained active momentum, and in Latvia, sales progressed at Miera Rezidences, Vitolu Parks and Marupes Sirds, developed together with the Eften fund.
The number of homes sold this year grew by 40 percent
Vähi also describes 2026 as strong and busy. In the first half of the year, Invego sold a total of 118 new homes – 43 in Estonia and 75 in Latvia. This was 40 percent more than in the same period a year earlier.
In early spring, the Uus-Järveküla development, built together with the Eften fund in Estonia, and Parka Kvartāls in Riga, carried out in cooperation with Reterra, were completed. Recently, the builder also handed over the last houses of the Luccaranna residential area to Invego.
“In other words, the second of our major projects here in recent years is also coming to a close,” said Vähi.
Among new projects, the company began building the Verve terraced house area in Haabneeme. According to Vähi, it is based on a novel architectural concept. In Riga, Invego brought two large-scale developments to the market – Tornakalna Terases and Nordale.
On the commercial real estate side, a new office building was completed in Telliskivi, which according to Vähi is now 100 percent leased. Since early spring, it has also housed Invego’s own head office.
Up to three more projects may be added in Latvia
For 2027, Vähi’s keyword is above all “Let’s do it!” According to him, the company has a large number of projects underway at the same time, and next year’s task is to carry them out as planned.
“Everything is actually going according to plan, there is just a lot of work,” said Vähi. According to him, the large workload can be managed thanks to a team of top specialists. “Those who do a lot, achieve a lot.”
According to Vähi, construction contracts have already been signed for all eight projects currently in public development in Latvia, and the developments are moving forward. He considers it entirely possible that Invego will launch another two or three new projects in Latvia within the next year.
Vähi emphasised that the large project volume is not driven by a desire to simply build as much as possible. According to him, Invego’s goal is to shape a diverse portfolio in Latvia, with developments located in different areas of Riga and its surroundings and intended for different customer groups.
However, the company has deliberately given up one segment.
“The only thing we really don’t do in Latvia is the lowest-end apartments, because they simply would not meet the basic quality requirements we have set for ourselves,” said Vähi.
Vähi: statistics show the real state of the market with a delay
Vähi considers the current state of the Estonian real estate market to be considerably better than some official statistics show at first glance. In his assessment, the Tallinn market has been active for the past year to year and a half.
As one sign of the market working, he highlighted new higher-end projects in Tallinn. According to Vähi, developers have launched three or four very high-priced projects in the capital, where the price per square metre exceeds 10,000 euros.
In his assessment, the fact that these projects have reached construction means that the required number of apartments was already sold to obtain financing before the final transactions were concluded. “This is actually clear confirmation that the market is working,” he said.
According to Vähi, official statistics reflect what is happening in the market with a delay, as they mainly include real right contracts already concluded and transactions entered in the register. However, there may be several years between the start of sales of a development project and the final real right contract.
For this reason, he says, statistics may show market turns with a misleading time lag. A couple of years ago, they gave the impression that everything in the market was fine at a time when actual sales activity had already stalled. In Vähi’s assessment, the situation is now the opposite: activity has increased, but the full improvement has not yet reached the official figures.
“The wheat will be separated from the chaff even more”
Vähi forecasts that the number of transactions will continue to grow gradually and that prices will also move upwards. The reason for the latter, he says, is simple: inputs and the surrounding economy are becoming more expensive.
At the same time, he sees growth in supply as a significant risk for 2027. “The fact is that a lot is being built, and the market will become even more saturated next year,” said Vähi.
In his assessment, this will extend the sales periods of many projects. Longer sales, in turn, mean that the returns of some investors who have put money into real estate development may be noticeably lower than expected.
In Vähi’s view, the gap between good and weaker developments will therefore widen. “The wheat will be separated from the chaff even more – the weaker the product, the longer the sales period,” he said.
According to him, the most difficult situation may be for development companies created for a single project, especially if they lack sufficient long-term and low-cost capital. In such a situation, a long sales period quickly becomes a significant financial burden.