TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, August 30. Demand in the real estate market of Uzbekistan, after an initial decline in the current year, is growing again, Trend reports, referring to the Central Bank of the country.
Real estate purchase and sale transactions totaled 90,800 from April through June 2023, which is the highest figure since the beginning of 2021. The number of transactions increased by 21 percent compared to the previous one and by 10 percent year-on-year.
This upturn in activity has contributed to an increase in house prices. By the end of June, prices were up 27 percent in the secondary market and 21 percent in the primary market. Annualized gains were 24 percent and 18 percent, respectively, compared to the end of the first quarter.
The rental housing sector has also seen an 18 percent increase in prices over the past year. However, since the beginning of the year, the cost of rental housing has fallen by 6 percent due to the exhaustion of external shocks.
One of the factors supporting the growth in demand is the increase in mortgage lending. Over the half-year period, Uzbeks took out loans to buy housing worth 7 trillion soums ($579 million), 6 percent more year-on-year.
Approximately 60 percent of mortgage loans issued this year were for the purchase of housing in new buildings. Continued growth in construction is also supported by a 13 percent increase in cement production over the past five months.
Despite the increase in the volume of new real estate, its value continues to rise. The Central Bank attributes this to a combination of the population's investment demand and the limited availability of alternative instruments for saving.
Almost a third of transactions in the Uzbek real estate market take place in Tashkent. The annual growth of prices for square meters of the capital amounted to 22 percent in June, which is largely due to the rise in land prices by 19 percent.
The greatest increase in the cost of housing was recorded in the outskirts of the city, such as Bektemir (40 percent), Sergeli (35 percent), Uchtepi (32 percent), and Almazar (32 percent). Experts emphasized the active development of infrastructure in these districts.