Expert: Real estate uncertainty persists

ArmInfo. Due to the pandemic, uncertainty in the real estate market persists.

This opinion was expressed in a telephone conversation with ArmInfo  correspondent by economist, director of the Real Estate Exchange  Artyom Pribylsky, referring in this regard to the situation on the  secondary real estate market of Armenia.  According to the expert,  under the current conditions, progress should be expected only in  part of new buildings, since in this case the matter concerns large  investments that need to be paid back. At the same time, he noted  that foreigners' interest in Armenian real estate also remains. In  this regard, the head of the Real Estate Exchange did not rule out  that a similar trend is likely to continue.  However, as Pribylsky  noted, today, in a pandemic the highest activity is observed in  transactions on the sale of land. <Now the land is considered as a  promising financial investment. And with the rest of the real estate,  the situation is still uncertain>, he stressed.

In general, according to the head of the Exchange, negative trends  are observed in the real estate market of the Republic of Armenia. In  particular, despite the fact that prices according to official data  are rising, the dynamics of transactions actually shows a decline.   It should be noted that, according to the State Committee of the Real  Property Cadastre of Armenia, real estate transactions in Armenia in  January-March 2020 demonstrated year-on-year growth, however, a sharp  decline was recorded compared to the previous quarter (IV quarter of  2019). In particular, during the reporting period, in the Republic as  a whole, 42 720 transactions with real estate were completed (y-o-y  growth of 13.5%, quarterly decline of 21.6%), of which 13 550  transactions were in Yerevan (y-o-y growth of 0, 9%, a quarterly  decline of 23.2%), and 29,170 transactions - in the RA region (y-o-y  growth of 20.5%, quarterly decline of 20.8%). It is worth noting that  the lion's share (51.2%) of transactions in the regions of the  country are transactions with land.

Real estate purchase and sale transactions in Armenia show growth of  17.7% per annum, amounting to a total of 12,049. Of the total number  of transactions, 3,908 are in Yerevan (y-o-y growth of 3.7%,  quarterly decline of 24.3%) , and 8,141 transactions were made in the  regions of Armenia (y-o-y growth of 25.8%, quarterly decline of  22.3%). The lion's share (60%) of transactions in the regions of the  Republic of Armenia is accounted for the purchase and sale of land -  with annual growth of 35.6%, and a quarterly decline of 20.9%. In  Yerevan, traditionally, apartments (62%) are leaders in sales and  purchase transactions, showing an increase of 4.7% year on year, with  a quarterly decline of 27.3%.

It is appropriate to note that of the total real estate purchase and  sale transactions committed in January-March 2020 10% accounts for  foreign citizens. As a result, 509 units were purchased from  foreigners, and 748 units of real estate were sold foreign citizens.   According to official figures, the lion's share of transactions with  foreigners on sales are apartments (46.2% and 46.3%, respectively).   Basically, the sale and purchase of real estate in the RA are carried  out by citizens of the Russian Federation, the USA and Iran.

The prices of apartment buildings in Yerevan increased in y-o-y terms  by an average of 12.1%, in the quarterly terms- by 3.2%.  Traditionally, the most expensive are the apartment buildings in the  Kentron administrative district, where prices are registered at 664.7  thousand drams / 1 sq. m, followed by Arabkir (461.3 thousand drams /  1 sq. m) and Davtashen (347.5 thousand drams / 1 sq. m.). The most  affordable in the capital continue to remain apartment buildings in  the administrative district of Nubarashen - 189.7 thousand drams / 1   sq. m.  In the regions, the rise in apartment prices was recorded at  an average of 6.6% year on year, and 2.4% per quarter.   Traditionally, the highest prices for apartment buildings were  registered in Tsakhkadzor - 284 thousand drams / 1 sq.m., Abovyan -  184.4 thousand drams / 1 sq.m. and Vagharshapat -155.7 thousand drams  / 1 sq.m. The lowest prices are in Tumanyan (Lori region) - 24  thousand drams / 1 sq.m.