State Data Agency (Statistics Lithuania)

Price Statistics Division

29 Gedimino Ave.
LT-01500 Vilnius
Lithuania

The OOHPI is based on the ‘net acquisitions’ approach, which measures changes in prices paid by households for the acquisition of dwellings that are new to the household sector and changes in other costs related to the ownership, and transfer of ownership, of dwellings.

The OOHPI is broken down into the following expenditure categories:

• O.1. Owner-occupiers’ housing expenditure;
  • O.1.1. Acquisitions of dwellings;
    • O.1.1.1. New dwellings;
      • O.1.1.1.1. Purchases of newly built dwellings;
      • O.1.1.1.2. Self-build dwellings and major renovations;
    • O.1.1.2. Existing dwellings new to households;
    • O.1.1.3. Other services related to the acquisition of dwellings;
  • O.1.2. Ownership of dwellings;
    • O.1.2.1. Major repairs and maintenance;
    • O.1.2.2. Insurance connected with dwellings;
    • O.1.2.3. Other services related to ownership of dwellings.

Households which are owner occupiers.

The main statistical variables are price indices.

The basic unit of statistical observation are transaction prices of dwellings new to the household sector and of other products that the households acquire in their role as owner-occupiers.

The target population of housing is comprised of dwellings acquired from other sectors or built by both resident and non-resident households within the economic territory of the country in their role as owner-occupiers.

The target population of enterprises is comprised of enterprises performing own-account residential construction and major repair works, trade enterprises representing the current network of trade in construction materials and products, service enterprises providing dwelling acquisition and ownership-related (e.g. insurance) services.

The target population of goods and services covers dwelling acquisition and ownership-related goods and services.

Data are available for the country as a whole.

Total OOH price index and price sub-indices for expenditure categories 'Acquisitions of dwellings', 'New dwellings', Purchases of newly built dwellings', 'Existing dwellings new to households' data are available since the first quarter of 2006, price sub-indices for expenditure categories 'Self-build dwellings and major renovations', 'Other services related to the acquisition of dwellings', 'Ownership of dwellings', 'Major repairs and maintenance', 'Insurance connected with dwellings' – since the first quarter of 2009.

2015=100

The following units are used:
- Index point;
- Percentage change on the same period of the previous year (rates);
- Percentage change on the previous period (rates);
- Percentage share of the total (weights).

OOHPI is a quarterly statistics.

Legal acts and other agreements - EU level :

Regulation (EU) 2016/792 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2016 on harmonised indices of consumer prices and the house price index, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2494/95.

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2023/1470 of 17 July 2023 laying down the methodological and technical specifications in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/792 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the house price index and the owner-occupied housing price index, and amending Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/1148.

A Law on Statistics of the Republic of Lithuania is the main national legal act regarding official statistics.  Production of the OOH price index as well as other official statistics is included in the annual Official Statistics Work Programme. The OOH price index is calculated based on the methodology of the Lithuanian OOH price index production approved on 21 December of 2018 by Order No DĮ-306 of the Director General of Statistics Lithuania.

Contract signed between Statistics Lithuania and the owner of administrative data on dwelling transactions – the state enterprise Centre of Registers.

Access to administrative data:

None.

Not available.

EU level:

Regulation No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on European statistics and repealing Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1101/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transmission of data subject to statistical confidentiality to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Council

National level :

Law on Statistics of the Republic of Lithuania.

Law on Legal Protection of Personal Data of the Republic of Lithuania.

Confidential data are treated according to the Regulation No 223/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009.

According to the Law on Statistics, Statistics Lithuania cannot publish, or otherwise make available to any individual or organization, statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual or entity.

In practice, OOH price index is published up to the level of detail described in the Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/1470.

Statistical information is published in accordance with an approved release calendar.

The calendar is placed on the Official Statistics Portal of Statistics Lithuania.

The data is disseminated to all users through the Official Statistics Portal. The data are released simultaneously to all interested parties by issuing a news release on changes in housing prices and updating the information on the Database of Indicators on the Official Statistics Portal. At the same time the news release is also e-mailed to the media. The news release is issued in Lithuanian only.

The Database of Indicators is available on the Official Statistics Portal in Lithuanian and English.

Quarterly for the OOHPI and annual for weights.

The news release provides information on the quarterly, annual and average annual rates of change in housing prices, a brief methodology description and analysis.

The OOH price index is published in Statistical Yearbook of Lithuania (price indices, as compared to the index reference period 2015 (2015 = 100), and average annual rates of change; the total OOH price index and price sub-indices for expenditure categories defined in the Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/1470.

The Database of Indicators on the Official Statistics Portal.

Micro-data are not accessible for any users.

OOH price index dissemination is available upon request.

The OOH price index methodology (only in Lithuanian) is published on the Official Statistics Portal.

The OOH price index metadata is available in both Lithuanian and English on the Official Statistics Portal.

General quality assurance framework in Statistics Lithuania.

The quality of statistical information and its production process is ensured by the provisions of the European Statistics Code of Practice and ESS Quality Assurance Framework. 

In 2007, a quality management system, conforming to the requirements of the international quality management system standard ISO 9001, was introduced at Statistics Lithuania. The main trends in activity of Statistics Lithuania aimed at quality management and continuous development in the institution are established in the Quality Policy. Monitoring of the quality indicators of statistical processes and their results and self-evaluation of statistical survey managers is regularly carried out in order to identify the areas which need improvement and to promptly eliminate the shortcomings.

Data quality is in line with the relevance, accuracy and reliability, timeliness and punctuality, comparability and compatibility criteria. Statistics Lithuania follows the provisions of the Quality Declaration of the European Statistical System (ESS) and the European Statistical Code of Practice. In 2007, Statistics Lithuania was awarded a certification on the conformity with the requirements for a Quality Management System of the ISO 9001 standard. In 2010, 2013 and 2016 the quality management system was re-certified.

The quality of the OOH price index is routinely reviewed using a framework that is based on the OOH Technical Manual.

Statistical data quality is checked at individual OOH price index component price sub-indices calculation stages. Quarterly checks against errors and inaccuracies in price data are carried out. Data verification is carried out using a data verification program at various index compilation stages.

A self-assessment of the managers of statistical surveys (DESAP) whose statistical data are used for the compilation of OOH price index component price sub-indices is carried out periodically; A self-assessment of statistical survey managers is based on a detailed checklist for quality assessment of surveys. Survey managers are committed to perform a self-assessment once per 5 years. Moreover, statistical questionnaire control testing is performed.

The OOH price index corresponds to the main needs of users. The main users of the OOH price index are the Bank of Lithuania, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, the European Central Bank, Eurostat, business and research communities, the media.

Not available.

All relevant expenditure categories defined in the Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/1470 are compiled and published.

The accuracy of OOH price index data sources is observed through the evaluation of the reliability of the administrative data source for prices and weights – the Database of the Real Property Register and the Database of Transactions of the state enterprise Centre of Registers, and statistical surveys on housing construction prices, construction input prices, consumer goods and services prices according to the system for the monitoring and measurement of the quality of statistical surveys in place at Statistics Lithuania.

A purposive sampling method is used in the statistical surveys and pieces of work whose information is used in the calculation of OOH price index component price sub-indices: for the selection of structures, input elements, goods and services and  enterprises.

The results of statistical surveys and OOH price index compilation are analysed looking for errors, which may affect the final results; closer attention is paid to outliers.

Efforts are made to reduce the number of price data errors by improving primary statistical data verification programs in the statistical surveys whose information are used for the calculation of OOH price index component price sub-indices.

Not available.

Not available.

Statistical information is published not later than on the 72-74th day after the end of the reference quarter.

Data are sent within the delays prescribed by Commission Regulation 2016/792 (85 days after the end of the reference period for the indices). Data are sent on 72-74th day after the reporting quarter. Statistical information is published in accordance with an Official Statistics Calendar.

Not applicable.

The OOH price index is available from the first quarter of 2006. Since the first quarter of 2009, the following OOH price index components were included in the calculation of the all-items OOHPI: 'Other costs related to the purchase of a dwelling', 'Costs of ownership of dwellings', 'Major repairs and maintenance', 'Insurance connected with the dwelling'. The inclusion of new components could affect the comparability of the OOH price index over time.

There is only one set of OOH price indices is available.

The OOH price index is internally coherent. Elementary price indices are consistently aggregated to higher-level price indices.

Not available.

The revision policy of Statistics Lithuania is provided in the document General Principles behind the Performance, Analysis and Announcement of Revisions of Statistical Indicators.

Revisions are performed in accordance with Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1470.  

See below.

The Database of the Real Property Register and the Database of Transactions.
Data from the statistical surveys on prices of consumer goods and services, construction input prices, construction work prices.
National legislation establishing prices for services related to the purchase and ownership of the dwelling.

National accounts data on gross fixed capital formation for new dwellings, national accounts data on dwelling owners’ expenditure on dwelling insurance.
Additionally the Database of the Real Property Register and the Database of Transactions is used as well as expert residential building cost estimation documents.

Data are received quarterly.

The main data on sale–purchase transactions are received in electronic form via a public authority computer network.

Statistical data on construction work prices are received through a statistical survey questionnaire KA-26, construction input prices – KA-19, KA-20, insurance service prices – KA-05. Statistical questionnaires KA-26, KA-19 and KA-20 are submitted to the regional data preparation divisions, KA-05 – to the Price Statistics Division of Statistics Lithuania through the electronic statistical data preparation and transfer system e-Statistics.

Dwelling ownership registration and dwelling acquisition-related notarial service prices are collected by the specialists of the Price Statistics Division based on respective legal acts.

Computer statistical price data validation programs are used for different OOH price index components.

Various procedures ensure that errors are minimized in the data. The following validation checks are made on each record in the source data: transactions to acquire dwellings which are uninhabitable due to the lack of completeness (< 80 per cent) are rejected; consistency between the area of the dwelling and the number of rooms, between the purchased area, dwelling area and part of the dwelling purchased, between the total price of the dwelling and the dwelling area purchased is checked; extreme values are identified and eliminated if thought necessary; data cleaning is done to remove cases of obviously erroneous data; minimum and maximum values are investigated and removed if thought necessary; rates of change analysis is carried out.

Special attention is paid to those price changes which had the largest impact on the general change in the price sub-index.

Information about factors influencing housing price changes is regularly monitored in the press, reviews and reports published by other institutions and businesses.

See below.

See below.

OOHPI is a Laspeyres-type price index.

Elementary price indices are aggregated to higher-level price indices according to the Laspeyres formula using owner-occupiers’ housing expenditures as weights.

The main data sources for weights are national accounts data on gross fixed capital formation for new dwellings, dwelling owners’ expenditure on dwelling insurance and expert residential building cost estimation documents, the Database of the Real Property Register and the Database of Transactions. Weight reference period is t-2. OOHPI weights are updated annually.

Elementary aggregate weights are adjusted with an appropriate price change between the year t-2 and the fourth quarter of the year t-1.

The OOHPI is annually chain-linked Laspeyres-type price index.

See below.

The price of the dwelling is the price in the sale contract. The data are used in the OOHPI for the quarter in which the sale contract was signed.

VAT is included in the price of newly built dwellings.

Other taxes are not included in the price of dwellings.

There is no special treatment of government subsidies in the OOH price index.

Land is excluded from weights and prices.

There is no special treatment of housing cooperatives or other types of transactions.

Transactions, which are not registered, are not covered in OOHPI.

Transactions, which are not registered, are not covered in OOHPI.

See below.

OOHPI a Laspeyres-type index. The Jevons formula is used to calculate elementary aggregate indices.

If the quality of the replacement goods and services significantly differs from that of the replaced ones, the assessment of the impact of the change in quality on the increase or decrease in the price has to be made. To maintain comparability between prices for the replaced and replacing pieces of construction work, goods and services, prices of the previous period are adjusted by eliminating the impact of the change in quality.

For O.1.1.1.1 Purchase of new dwellings detailed stratification based on several factors is used. Dwellings purchased are divided into relatively homogeneous groups of dwellings – elementary aggregates. O.1.1.1.1. Purchases of new dwellings
For O.1.1.1.2. Self-build dwellings and major renovations overlap, judment, expert judgment and bridged overlap methods are used.
For O.1.1.2. Existing dwellings new to households detailed stratification based on several factors is used. Dwellings purchased are divided into relatively homogeneous groups of dwellings – elementary aggregates.
For O.1.2.1. Major repairs and maintenance expert judgment and bridged overlap methods are used.
For O.1.2.2. Insurance connected with dwellings bridged overlap method are used.

Imputations are used in cases of changes in quality or missing prices.

Discounts and inducements are not treated.

There were not such case.

VAT is excluded from observed prices.

OOH price indices are not seasonally adjusted.

None.