Apartment sellers and buyers in waiting positions
The sellers and buyers of apartments are now in waiting positions. According to a study carried out by the realty agency Lara, the situation created on the real estate market can be described as confrontation between sellers and buyers because the first do not yet believe that the prices will drop, while the latter expect that the price falls will turn into a prominent trend, Info-Prim Neo reports.
“Many sellers are not yet ready to accept the changes taking place on the market and attempt to sell the apartments at yesterday’s prices. But this is impossible,” the study says. Though many sellers still try to maintain the prices at the last year’s level, experts of Lara consider that most of these sellers will adjust the prices in 2009.
According to market monitors, the reasonable sellers offer reductions without problems. The real prices already fell by 10% compared with the maximum levels of 2008. “If the apartments are now offered with a reduction of 7-8%, the demand will be buoyant,” experts of Lara say.
The reductions on the market vary between 5% and 15%. The optimal value of the reduction differs for every apartment apart, depending on its liquidity.
House prices in the second half of 2008 fell to 880-870 euros per square meter, while in December – to 832 euros per square meter. Apartments in the municipality of Chisinau cost between 30,000 and 70,000 euros, depending on the number of rooms, type of house and location.
Seventy-five blocks with 12,000 apartments are now being built in Chisinau, according to the study.