DUSHANBE, September 26, 2009, Asia-Plus — In the majority of the former Soviet republics, the fall in dwelling prices began in 2008 while in two former Soviet republics, the dwelling prices began falling in 2007 already, the GED Analytics Center’s report on changes in the dwelling prices in capitals of 15 former Soviet republics over the past year says.
According to the report, the fall in dwelling prices in Moscow and Baku began in 2007 already having resulted from lop-sided development of the economies of Russia and Azerbaijan – demand for the raw material resources, produced by these countries, fell in world market.
The report says that from September 2008 to September 2009, average dwelling prices fell by 53 percent in Riga (Latvia), by 42 percent in Tbilisi (Georgia), and by 39 percent in Kiev (Ukraine).
In the meantime, the lowest fall in the dwelling prices has been reported in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) – 16 percent, Yerevan (Armenia) – 19 percent and Chisinau (Moldova) – 21 percent.
According to experts from GED Analytic Center, different dwelling prices dynamics in the former Soviet republics’ capitals have been conditioned by combination of local political and economic factors in addition to the global economic crisis.
For examples, one of the key reasons for the fall in dwelling prices in some CIS states, including Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, is the decrease in volumes of remittances coming from labor migrants working in the Russian Federation.
As of September 2009, the lowest dwelling prices among the CIS countries’ capitals were reported in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and Dushanbe (Tajikistan) – 500 U.S. dollars per one square meter. The highest dwelling prices are in Moscow (4,500 U.S. dollars per one square meter). Moscow is followed by Kiev (1,750 U.S. dollars) and the Kazakh capital of Astana (1,550 U.S. dollars per one square meter).
