Demand for large apartments in Ukraine shifts from western regions to central and northern ones

According to OLX Real Estate data cited by RBC-Ukraine, demand for large-format housing in the country has been significantly redistributed over the past year: whereas the greatest interest was previously recorded mainly in the western oblasts, it is now increasingly shifting to the central, northern, and some southern regions.

In the segment of apartments with an area of 100–150 square meters, the largest year-on-year growth in listings for sale was recorded in Kirovohrad oblast — by nearly 35% — and Sumy oblast — by 20%. At the same time, supply dropped noticeably in Zakarpattia (minus 42%), Rivne (minus 36.3%), Zhytomyr (nearly minus 30%), Vinnytsia (minus 26.4%), and Kherson (minus 25%) oblasts.

Demand in the same segment grew mainly in the central and northern regions. The steepest decline in buyer interest was recorded in Kherson oblast (minus 50%), Khmelnytskyi (minus 32%), Zhytomyr (minus 27%), and Zakarpattia (minus 26.4%) oblasts. According to OLX Real Estate, affordable housing prices were one of the key reasons for the shift in demand from the western regions to other oblasts. The median price of apartments measuring 100–150 sq. m, in dollar terms, rose over the year in a number of regions, while in Poltava oblast prices remained unchanged, and in Cherkasy and Mykolaiv oblasts they even declined slightly.

In the segment of apartments measuring 150–200 square meters, the market proved even more uneven. The greatest growth in buyer interest was recorded in Vinnytsia oblast, where the number of responses to listings jumped by 700%. Significant demand growth was also noted in Chernihiv oblast (plus 250%), Zhytomyr (plus 150%), and Zakarpattia (plus 115.4%). In Rivne oblast, the number of listings in this segment fell by as much as 96%, and responses to such apartments virtually disappeared (minus 100%). Significant declines were also observed in Khmelnytskyi, Mykolaiv, Volyn, and Lviv oblasts. The median price in the 150–200 sq. m segment rose most noticeably in a number of regions, while in Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, and Sumy oblasts prices declined somewhat.

According to OLX Real Estate’s findings, the large-apartment market is becoming increasingly heterogeneous. While demand in the 100–150 sq. m segment is gradually shifting toward regions with more affordable prices, sales of apartments measuring 150–200 sq. m are becoming ever more dependent on the availability of solvent buyers. This is most clearly evident in Vinnytsia oblast, which is gradually becoming one of the centers for business and family relocation, while in certain regions the large-housing market has nearly stalled due to a shortage of buyers.

RBC-Ukraine previously reported on the cost of rental housing for students ahead of the new academic year: the most expensive one-bedroom apartments are currently in Uzhhorod, Lviv, and Kyiv, while the cheapest are in Sumy and Kharkiv. The outlet also wrote about changes in prices for one-bedroom apartments and long-term rentals in southern Ukraine over the past five years: housing prices rose the most in Odesa, while Kherson was the only city where both purchase and rental prices declined.