No One Needs Minsk Property?

In July, the secondary market of metropolitan apartments shrank 15 percent.

The secondary housing market, despite all the hopes of realtors, fell flat in July, and by the number of deals made it shrank even lower than in 2015, when the record fall in prices for the capital's apartments was recorded, ej.by writes.

Back in June, realtors claimed that even though the secondary housing market of Minsk had shrank a bit at the price and demand, it still remained at rather high positions and did not denounce any sharp changes. Yes, a seasonal decline in demand was forecasted, but within the fall of 2016. The actual state of affairs, demonstrated by July, turned out to be far from the forecasts. According to the National Cadastre Agency, the demand shrank 15% compared to June, and 22.2% compared to July 2016. It was higher even in July 2015.

It is interesting that the results of the first half of the year did not denounce any cataclysms. Yes, the demand turned out to be lower than in 2016, which also affected the prices. They showed a slight but negative growth. But in general, the interest of buyers remained quite high and stable, despite minor fluctuations.

So in January 2017 the number of transactions (760) was even higher than in January of the record year 2016 (622). In February, there was expected growth (1187), which again turned out to be higher than in February of 2016 (1040). Even in March, 2017, the number of transactions (1354) continued to grow, beating March of 2016 (1279). But everything changed in April, because this month of 2016 demonstrated rapid growth of the market (more than 18.5%), and April 2017 did not manage to keep up. Moreover, it did not even grow, but shrank 6.5% in March. But when in May the demand grew again, actively fueled by affordable money, realtors saw it as a good sign. In June, the demand was at a fairly high level, showing only a slight decrease, but in July it rapidly went down by 15%.

For the time being, the overall result of 2017 is 19% higher than in 2015, but given the sharp downward trend, it can be said that the resource of cheap money has already exhausted itself. And this is despite the fact that fewer new houses are built in Minsk now.

It is difficult to say now whether such a sharp drop in demand affect the prices. Now they are already low, and the sellers, inspired by the stable demand in the first half of the year, have set themselves up to the growth. Among the positive trends, realtors note a significantly reduced delta between the offer price and the sale price. This suggests that both sides have become more sober about the situation. If in 2016, the difference was about 11%, today it is not more than 6%.

Most likely, the decline in demand will continue in August and in September. It is possible that it will be as rapid as in July. However, one can hardly expect the same rapid decline in prices. If it happens, it will be 2-3%. But many experts suggest that sellers will do everything possible to keep prices at the current level. Moreover, the mortgage is about to come to life, which will certainly support the falling