No slump in residential property prices to be seen this year – experts
KYIV. April 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The fall in the prices of residential property in cities with over one million inhabitants in Ukraine could be around 10% in 2015 in the U.S. dollar equivalent, but there will not be a large fall if the situation does not change in the country, experts from the Association of Realtors of Ukraine said.
Association President Serhiy Zlyden said that expectations that the fall in the prices of residential property would by 45-50%, as happened in 2009, is one of the most serious mistakes made by experts.
"There are several myths that the property market completely fell, and the fall will continue, and one can buy a one-room apartment in Kyiv for $19,000. Experts forget about the classification of facilities, their location and their state. This price is the apartment of 15-16 square meters or 21-24 square meters," he said at a press conference held at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
A one-room apartment of 35-52 square meters costs $1,300 per square meter on average in Kyiv. For example, apartments in Kharkivsky Masyv along the subway line and with a gross area of 42-52 square meters cost $60,000-70,000. Khruschev-era apartments in districts with poorly developed infrastructure cost $1,200-1,250 per square meter.
The association said that prices will not slump.
Head of the certification and training committee of the association Artur Pylypchuk said that prices fell by 20% in the U.S. dollar equivalent on the residential property market in 2014 and grew by 60-80% in hryvnias. In 2015, the fall could be around 10% in the U.S. dollars, although the slump in prices will not be observed if the situation in the country does not change.
According to the association's statistics based on real deals, the real discount for deals is not 30%, as some experts say, but only 6.8% (6.3% in 2013) if the price policy is well formed. The average term for exhibiting apartments is 4.8 months, and before the crisis, in 2013, it was 4.5 months.
Zlyden said that there is solvent demand on the market.
According to the association's forecasts, the situation on the property market depends on the further development of the geopolitical and economic situation in Ukraine.
