Kazakh residents active in country's housing market

10 April 2018 14:46 (UTC+04:00)

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By Kamila Aliyeva

Activity of Kazakhstan’s residents in the housing market increased 0.3 percent in in January-March 2018.

The number of deals for purchase and sale of housing in Kazakhstan in January-March was 50,895, thus showing an increase of 0.3 percent compared to the same period in 2017, according to the Committee on Statistics under the Kazakh National Economy Ministry.

At the same time in March of this year the number of registered transactions for the sale of housing amounted to 16,764 and compared to the previous month decreased by 5.6 percent.

In 2017, 239,600 deals for housing purchase and sale were concluded in Kazakhstan.

At the same time, the average cost of 1 square meter of new housing in Kazakhstan amounted to 263,098 tenge ($823.05) in March 2018 showing an increase of 1 percent compared to the previous month.

Meanwhile, prices in construction sphere increased by 4.9 percent in March 2018 compared to December 2017.

In particular, prices for construction and installation work have increased by 5 percent since the beginning of the year, machinery and equipment - by 4 percent, other works and costs have risen by 5.8 percent.

Increase in prices for materials, parts and structures purchased by construction companies since the beginning of this year amounted to 0.7 percent.

Previously, Kazakhstan has experienced a sharp decline of the real estate market due to adverse external conditions. Devaluation of the national currency, along with a decrease in real wages and purchasing power affected the demand side, while slight overinvestment and high exposure to currency risks shocked the supply.

The Kazakh government is committed to resolving current issues on the real estate market with massive programs, which aim to provide affordable housing, including rental, refinancing foreign currency mortgages and stimulating construction of infrastructure for individual housing construction.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva