Azerbaijan, Baku, 31 January / Trend corr. U. Ismayilova / The activity of the Baku primary real estate market (the number of apartment purchase and sale deals) remained stable in December 2007 for the first time in the second half of the year. In prior months the activity of the market was averagely decreasing by 2.5% a month, which was mainly caused by construction accidents, the pubic organization Participants of Real Estate Market reported on 31 January.
In August 2007, a 16-storey building being constructed in a central Baku street collapsed resulting in death of 25 people.
The price of a sq m in the Baku primary real estate market increased by 0.3% in December to $1,025 sq m, while in November it was $1,022.
In December, the demand for most expensive apartments (Elite-class) rose by 1.7%.
Monitoring exercises showed that in recent years the portfolio of the real estate market has been formed through Elite-class apartments.
Prices for apartments in the centre of the city kept stable. The number of 1-room or 2-room apartments was considerably less than that of 4-room and 5-room.
In December, construction of 597 buildings was completed in the primary market, and the number of construction companies totalled 221. Most of the new buildings (26%) were constructed in the Yasamal district in Baku.