By KYIV. Dec 28 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The residential real estate market this year can be described as unsystematic, the number of transactions has decreased to rare purchases in objects with a high degree of readiness, Ukrainian developers told Interfax-Ukraine.
"The level of real transactions from the end of February to December inclusive can be described as rare, because there are no signs of consistency among buyers on the market. At the same time, the vast majority of transactions are made in objects with a readiness of more than 80%," the co-founder and managing partner of INSPI Development Volodymyr Sementsov described the situation to the agency.
According to him, the uneven activity of buyers is caused by the circumstances of the war and the lack of security guarantees, as well as the risks of bankruptcy of a significant share of developers. Thus, the demand for housing in Ukraine by the end of the year is about 15% of the indicators of the beginning of February.
The demand was also significantly affected by the reduction in the purchasing power of Ukrainians and the increase in the average price per square meter, caused, among other things, by the devaluation of the hryvnia. According to City One Development, the average price of housing in Kyiv in hryvnia increased by 40% by the end of 2022, to UAH 75,000/sq m, in dollars – by 4%, up to $2,045/sq m.
As of the third quarter of 2022, the number of transactions in the housing market is about a third compared to last year, Commercial Director of Intergal-Bud Hanna Layevska said. At the same time, interest in buying real estate in the capital, which began to grow with the onset of autumn, again decreased due to the shelling of critical infrastructure by the Russian aggressor.
A significant reduction in the number of transactions in the residential real estate market is also noted by owner of Saga Development Andriy Vavrysh.
"The activity of our traditional consumers – private investors in real estate – has indeed decreased by more than 90%. Interest in real estate from clients exceeds the level of deals: a significant part of potential clients postpones the purchase until more stable times," he said.
At the same time, there is a share of investors who buy real estate now, counting on the growth of the market after the end of the war, Vavrysh said.
According to KAN Development, most often today they buy comfort class housing. The demand for parking spaces and commercial real estate in residential complexes has also increased. At the same time, 50% of the developer’s sales are secondary properties on the company’s internal platform for current property owners from KAN.
