The average prices of apartments in the municipality of Chisinau have been stagnant for the third consecutive quarter, declining slightly in the first quarter of 2023. Most probably, they will stop at €730 per m2, said economist Veaceslav Ioniță, expert of the Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul”, IPN reports.

“The stagnation was caused by the economic crisis, the population’s concerns generated by the war in Ukraine, the toughening up of the NBM policy, which led to a twofold rise in the cost of mortgages and to a too sudden increase in prices the past two years,” explained Veaceslav Ioniță.

After the highest values recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008, when apartments cost €900 per m2 on average, 12 years of market decline followed. A sudden rise in prices started in 2021 and this scared the buyers somehow. The sudden rise continued until the second quarter of 2022, being influenced by the lower prices the previous period, the substantially larger incomes of the population and the possibilities of raising home loans, which in the period witnessed the biggest growth in Moldova’s history.

Veaceslav Ioniță noted that the real estate market will revive starting with the second half of 2023, stimulated by the reduction in inflation, overcoming of the crucial phase of the economic crisis, cheapening of the mortgages and owing to the demand put off since 2022.

The average prices of new apartment in the municipality of Chisinau are now €880-890 per m2, while on the secondary market - €680-690 per m2.