A square meter of dwelling during the first half of this year had fallen by 20% to about 700 euros in June owing to the low demand since December 2008, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the realty expert Petr Oleinicov, the new, one-room apartments are the most expensive – about 800 euros per square meter. A square meter of a two-room apartment costs 700 euros, while of a three-room apartment – 650 euros. “The prices had dropped over the first half of the year. Though the reduction is larger than projected, it is yet lower than in the neighboring countries,” Oleinicov said. In the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, the home prices decreased by 40-45%, while in Russia’s capital Moscow – by 30-35%, the expert said. Most of the apartments are purchased from savings. The people avoid taking out loans and therefore look for cheaper homes. But the sellers do not hurry to reduce the prices, Petr Oleinicov said. The number of sale-purchase transactions during January-June had declined 2-3 times compared with 2008. “In general, only the owners that need to sell their realty urgently decrease the prices,” the expert said. “Such a situation can be described this way: the purchase risk is high, but the sale is not profitable.” The analysis of the realty market in Moldova shows that the old, one- and two-room apartments that cost 25,000-40,000 euros are in greater demand. The sales of one-room apartments make up 40% of the total sales on the market, of two-room apartments - 30%, of three-room apartments – only 10%. “We expected that the sales will go up during the Easter vacation as many Moldovans working abroad come home in this period. But it did not happen so,” the expert said. “In fact, the apartments are now sold at the same prices as in 2007,” Oleinicov said. The analysis of the housing market that covered the last two years reveals that October 2008 saw the highest prices (910 euros per square meter), while July 2007 - the lowest ones (640 euros per square meter). The experts consider that the prices will continue to go down until the end of 2009. Yet, the housing market will be greatly influenced by the foreign situation and by the results of the early legislative elections.