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The market can feel global changes only after 2-3 weeks of quarantine.
In the first week after the announcement of the quarantine restrictions the real estate market in Ukraine worked as per normal. All the previously prepared procedures for buying and selling housing have been implemented, the market activity has not undergone major changes, Serhiy Kostetskyi, analyst at the company SV Development, states in a comment to The Page.
"Everyone who has certificates deals with buying and selling as usual. The transport works. The employees of the Administration Service Centre, responsible structures, and real estate agencies were prepared and vaccinated in advance," the expert stresses.
The biggest impact of the autumn lockdown, if it lasts more than a month, will be an increase in deferred transactions. In particular, the number of transactions may decrease within 20%, but upon the end of the period of severe restrictions (after 1-1.5 months), the postponed transactions will be implemented, Yuriy Pita, President of the Association of Real Estate Specialists (Realtors) of Ukraine (ARESU), notes.
In addition, according to him, there is a situation in the market when demand is decreasing for a completely different reason—because of the current high prices that are already on the verge of the purchasing power of the citizens.
"For instance, from the second half of September and during October, the demand in the secondary market decreased by an average of 12-15%, however, for the most demanded one-room and two-room apartments with an area of up to 50 m2 in good condition and in good locations, the decrease in buyers' activity was less noticeable—the demand decreased within the range of 5-7%," Pita stresses.
As for the rental, according to the president of ARESU, the market also remains stable: today it can undergo changes rather from the housing costs than from the lockdown.
"During the first week of the lockdown, there were no significant changes in the rental segment either. In October, the demand was satisfied by almost 90-95%. And most importantly, vaccinated tenants do not suffer from unemployment now. After all, the lockdown restrictions are rather conditional for those citizens who have been vaccinated. Therefore, the rental prices will depend on other factors in the future, such as the housing costs," the expert believes.
However, the housing market is quite inert: the global changes can be felt only after 2-3 weeks of quarantine, the experts believe.