BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 2
Trend:
Experts from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan conducted researches on the real estate market and published their results, Trend reports on July 2.
According to the results, from April to June this year, 38 percent more transactions were concluded in Uzbekistan under real estate purchase and sale agreements than in January to March. About a third of them fell on Tashkent [capital city].
At the same time, prices have increased in the secondary housing market. Preliminary results for the second quarter of this year showed that average prices in the country grew by 5.72 percent compared to the first quarter. This notable rise in price was recorded in many regions of Uzbekistan.
During the pandemic [COVID-19 pandemic] and quarantine period, the forced restrictions led to the postponement of planned purchases (the effect of deferred demand), which could lead to a slowdown in consumer demand in the economy and an increase in savings activity.
Besides, in the context of a relative stabilization of the exchange rate, the real estate market, as an alternative source of income, has become a more highly profitable source of investment for entrepreneurs and part of the population with sufficient savings.
“It’s important to understand the overvalued housing market. Despite the fact that in absolute terms the average prices for real estate are among the lowest, taking into account the standard of living, housing prices in the country are still high compared to the CIS countries and Georgia,” the experts noted.
So, for example, the ratio of the average price of real estate in the capital of Uzbekistan to GDP per capita (in purchasing power parity) is 12 percent. This is the third-highest indicator after Moscow (Russia) - 15.8 percent and Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) - 13.4 percent, added the experts.