Pace of property prices in 2012 to depend on settling gas issue, says expert

Kyiv, January 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The most important factor impacting property prices in Ukraine in 2012 will be the settling of the gas issue, according to the chairman of the committee for analysis and real estate market statistics at the Union of Realtors of Ukraine, and the director of the assessment department at Samson, Vsevolod Zhoholev.

"The most important factor for property prices is the price of gas. The settling of the gas issue is a macroeconomic stabilization and stabilization of the balance of trade. It's likely that this would entail the receiving of a new tranche from the IMF, the arrival of private and banking investments to Ukraine… appearance of mortgage credits, and mortgage expands demand. If the gas issue were settled at the level the government declares now, we'll see a rise in the prices," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Monday.

Zhoholev also added that if the hryvnia and the economic situation were stable, prices would remain at the present level, with possible fluctuations within 10-15%.

The president of the Union of Realtors of Ukraine and director general of Samson consulting company, Oleksandr Rubanov, said that without state support, the real estate market would not work.

"As for my opinion, we've only [just] entered the crisis," he said.