"Virtually zero sales and behavioral changes": a real estate expert told what is happening in the market
Kyiv • UNN
The expert spoke about the third wave of problems in the real estate market since the beginning of the invasion and the fall in sales. The preferences of customers have changed - now preference is given to 2-3-room apartments with a large kitchen and two bathrooms.
The Ukrainian real estate market is once again experiencing turbulence — the third wave of challenges since the beginning of a full-scale invasion. Once high demand collapsed by 7-10 times, but gradually began to return, it seemed, with the stabilization of construction work. But why, despite all efforts, is the market still standing still and how do Ukrainians now approach buying apartments?
These questions were answered by Victoria Bereshchak, a communication strategist in the residential and commercial real estate segment, in an exclusive comment to a journalist UNN.
Today, the real estate market is experiencing the third wave of problems since the beginning of a full-scale invasion. If at first we faced a collapse in demand by 7-10 times, depending on the class, segment, format and pace of construction, then over time, when work on construction sites resumed, we began to talk about the return of effective demand. With varying success, depending on the season, in 2022-2023 it was possible to partially return up to 25% of pre-war sales, but in very limited formats and segments
She explains that most of the return on sales concerns the comfort+ segment and the format of a multifunctional quarter, cluster, eco-complex with a recreational component and a multifunctional complex based on the "city within a city" principle.
The expert adds that to those complexes for which demand is recovering, there is a high rate of construction (this is at least one monolithic floor in the warm season, or 6-8% readiness per month).
The third important point for the buyer is the developer's willingness to take on obligations. That is, it is about the willingness to go out and build a house despite zero sales
According to her, a recovery in demand is expected after the disappearance of the seasonal factor that was relevant last year. The seasonality of prices is determined by the period from mid-autumn to mid-spring, which coincides with the heating season and is aggravated by energy terror on the part of the Russian Federation.
We are used to the fact that the seasonal factor remains, and we hoped that in the spring of this year we would start from the point of 20% of effective demand and gradually return. It's not a fast growth rate to buy apartments, but it's about 3-5% per month or two. But it did not happen as expected, and Russia again launched strikes on the energy sector in early summer
She says that the shelling of the Russian Federation and the run-up of thermal power plants rejected the real estate market in several ways: it hit production facilities, manufacturers of building materials and construction sites hard.
If we said earlier that the average delay in the market reaches 18-24 months, now this figure has increased by +3 months with commissioning
The second factor, according to her, was a blow to the buyer, including failed expectations for a counteroffensive.
At once, it is very practical to have zero sales in the market of non-freedom. In Persha chergu, they are sold, which can be taken care of in the kitchen, they can be used as an alternative to energy in complexes for healing the leafy possessions of those engineering communities. To sell them, they can sell the financial leverage system to the customer, they are also ready to buy for 100% discount, they can buy money on the programs of the retail store, and not just at a discount
To the question of interest to buyers in the real estate market, the expert answered:
Regarding the primary market, this is the compliance of the complex with their life scenarios: location, concept, spatial zoning of the territory, filling with infrastructure solutions and apartment design. The demand for a certain category of layouts has also changed, and now they want europlanning
Bereshchak says that there is no longer a strong demand for "odnushki", on the contrary, there is a demand for two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments in the range from 65 to 93 square meters.
She explains this trend by the fact that the behavioral scenarios of society are changing.
Generations unite and people take their parents and relatives to their homes. Families live quite differently. For buyers, it is very important to have a large kitchen-living room of 17 square meters and always 2 separate bathrooms. There is also a request for the absence of" extra " square meters, that is, those that cannot be spatially beaten
The expert also noted that Ukrainians have a request for "community unity and who they live with":
If earlier the developer did not set a goal to accumulate a single social environment, if he had a high percentage of investment apartments, where then the contingent changed and it did not matter to the owners who would live there. Now in such complexes it is very difficult to solve many everyday issues, conditionally buying a generator and elementary behavior
Victoria added that an important factor when buying an apartment is the closed territory.
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