The introduction of restrictions on cash transactions to a sum of Hr 150,000 from Sep. 1, 2013 by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has resulted in a fall in the number of transactions on the secondary housing market by 50-60 precent, and it is unlikely that the figure will grow by late 2013 due to the absence of a proper interpretation of the mechanism in practice by market players.
The information was published by participants of a roundtable entitled “Property Market: New Landscape. Law on realtors’ operations, New in Assessments, Restrictions of Payments and Property Tax – How This Will Change the Market” in Kyiv on Oct. 22.
“The indicator is not exactly accurate, as there are no accurate figures. According to our information, when we talked to notaries, the number of transactions in September fell by 50-60 percent,” Head of the National Council of the Realtor Chamber of Ukraine Viktor Nesin said.
He said that apart from human reasons, when market players have a wait-and-see attitude with any new requirement introduced by the state, the almost complete non-readiness of the banks, which interpret the NBU’s decision in various ways, considerably impacted the number of deals on the secondary housing market.
Nesin said that the secondary housing market stagnation will continue, and it is unlikely that the number of sales and purchase deals on the market will revive to the pre-September level by the end of the year.
Vice-President of League of Experts of Ukraine Andriy Huselnykov added that among key problems for property market player caused by the introduction of the said restriction by the NBU is the increase in the term of the implementation of the transaction and additional expenses, as well as technical issues with opening bank accounts.
