The full-scale war continuing on the territory of Ukraine has already significantly affected business. Separately, it is worth considering the situation with the real estate market, which is waiting for colossal changes. Apartments in Kyiv will no longer be bought at the price that sellers expected before February 24.
Closed registries and martial law
Currently, the real estate market in Ukraine is completely frozen. It is impossible to buy or sell an apartment, house, land or other property. State registries are closed and do not work, notaries and other registrars will not be able to register new rights. Therefore, those wishing to conclude a deal need to wait for the opening of registries.
Any other agreements have no legal effect. Selling or buying without official registration, for example, under a preliminary agreement or against a receipt, is a big risk used by scammers. The state and experts do not recommend using such schemes, because such contracts are easy to terminate.
Also, no agreements should be made during martial law, because they can also subsequently be determined invalid, because war can be perceived as a circumstance affecting the voluntary decision of the seller or buyer.
Rebuilding destroyed cities
The state separately promises people who have lost their homes as a result of the war to rebuild everything. The instrument for these actions is currently being evaluated. One of the possible schedules is that apartments from developers will be purchased for budgetary funds. It is also planned to physically restore the affected cities, such as Bucha, Gostomel, Irpen or Chernihiv.
According to Yuri Pita, president of the association of realtors, people will not be able to return to cities that are close to Kiev, such as Irpen, yet, and the real estate market in these cities can be said to disappear for a long time.
Record price cuts
According to Pita, the popularity of the suburb will decrease, so it will be very difficult to sell apartments there. At the same time, prices may drop to record highs. For example, individual apartments that cost $50,000 before the war will sell for $10,000, but not in bulk.
Reduced prices for apartments in Kyiv
Apartments in Kyiv. Photo: Rad Pozniakov
The capital, most likely, also expects a significant reduction in prices associated with the war. Firstly, Kiev also suffered, which also affected the psychological state of the people who lived here. Many went abroad at the beginning of the war. Some try to sell apartments at half price, even during closed registries, in order to use funds abroad and arrange life there.
The availability of funds will also play a huge role. The war took its toll on declining incomes. Many have lost their jobs, some have frozen businesses, both large and medium. All this has a bad effect on the income and well-being of the population as a whole. There will simply be no one to sell apartments at a high price, because people have no money, so demand will drop to historic lows.
Foreign investors also left Ukraine en masse even before the start of full-scale Russian aggression, so you should not count on them either, because investments in a region with a war are dangerous.
The consequences of the war and the choice of apartments
Also, the demand for some apartments will be the least because people are now evaluating the safety of their own homes. For example, few will buy apartments near airports or other strategic and military installations because they will be the first to be shot at in the event of new attacks.
People have learned to assess the danger of being located in houses. Demand for apartments with a view will decline because the risk of projectiles in open spaces is also higher than in closed corners.
There will be greater demand for housing located on the first floors than on the upper ones, from where it is more difficult to go down, where a rocket can hit.
According to some forecasts, the war may continue until 2035, so these factors will be important for a long time to come. According to Aleksey Arestovich, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, several more military clashes with Russia are guaranteed. Even if everything ends with negotiations or a local victory, this is not the end, so you should always be ready for new conflicts.
The threat of war is here to stay, so people planning to buy a home should keep this in mind. This is only suitable for those who are ready for war. Otherwise, it is better to choose another country.
The same applies to apartment owners. If someone is not ready to live in such conditions, it makes sense to think about selling their property after the opening of the registries. The rest continue to live in Ukraine.
Reduced rental prices
The rental housing market has also been affected. Many have left Ukraine or Kyiv, so the rented apartments are now free. Internally displaced persons are accommodated mostly free of charge, because they have no money. Therefore, rental prices have dropped significantly.
Yuri Pita also believes that faced with falling prices for the sale of apartments and lack of demand, many owners will not want to sell their property, so they will try to rent it out. This will create an even greater surplus of offers and further bring down prices in Kyiv.
Attempts by realtors to keep prices down
Some unscrupulous realtors have already become active, offering intermediary services right during the war. If you look at the ad, you can conclude that they are trying to keep prices down by indicating pre-war, or even higher amounts. But this does not work as expected, because there are no people who want to buy housing for that kind of money. Besides, it’s impossible to do it legally.
Artificial growth before the war
Those who followed prices before the war will remember that they increased a lot last year. Many experts considered this an unreasonable “soap bubble”, which now, apparently, was completely destroyed by the war.
So the prices for apartments in Kyiv can be halved. If, before the start of a full-scale war, owners and intermediaries tried to depend on them up to 30-50 thousand dollars for old one-room “dormitories” and “smarts” in Kyiv, after the opening of the registries, prices should be expected in the range of 15-20 thousand.
If you need help in choosing an apartment as well as checking it, you can safely contact our specialists, they will take all the necessary steps to protect you from unscrupulous sellers.