Tuesday, June 18 2013 21:04
Elite Group Director General: Rising gas and electric-power tariffs will affect real estate prices in Armenia
ArmInfo. Rising gas and electric power tariffs will sure affect the real estate prices in Armenia, Elite Group Director General Armen Mkoyan told ArmInfo.
He said the rising tariffs will have an effect on the cost of the building materials manufactured in the country, which will, in turn, increase the cost value of the real estate.
"I can say for sure that real estate prices will hardly fall in the near future," he said.
As regards the market activity, specifically, the number of transactions, Mkoyan said that demand for housing is growing now amid stagnation in the housing construction sector and the falling supply. The market has awakened after the presidential election, as it is sensitive to all political processes, unfortunately, he said.
Both the inexpensive and exclusive housing sectors have awakened, he said. A. Mkoyan disagrees with experts who say that elite housing market in Armenia is exhausted.
"Stagnation is observed in transactions in the average-cost housing sector. Inexpensive and exclusive housing is in demand," he said. Transactions are registered mainly in the city center, Kentron and Arabkir communities.
As regards the situation in the corporate real estate market, the head of Elite Group said that the given segment has grown due to certain activation of the private business. By data of the State Real Estate Register Committee of Armenia, 15824 transactions were made in the real estate market in Armenia in April 2013, with a 2.8% decline for April and 16.7% growth versus April 2012. Alienation transactions made up 25.3% of total or 4008 transactions with a 3% decline for April and 17.5% growth versus April 2012. 39.5% of alienation transactions were registered in Yerevan, including 37.3% transactions with apartments in residential buildings. Purchase and sale deals made up 74.6% of 2990 of total transactions. The average cost of housing in the country in April 2013 versus March grew 0.5% to 183.3 ths drams per sq m. Housing prices grew 4.6% versus April 2012. Housing in Yerevan totaled 279 ths drams per sq m in April 2013 and 87.7 ths drams per sq m in the regions in average. Housing grew in prices 6.7% in Yerevan and 2.6% in the regions over the year. For comparison, in 2012 real estate transactions in Armenia totaled 173713 with a 7,6% decline versus 2011, as transactions in the regions fell 12.1% and in Yerevan - 1.7%.