Will the weakening of the national currency have any appreciable impact on the Georgian real estate market?
 

Views of the construction and real estate companiesare divided on this issue.

Managers of construction companies say they do not intend to update prices in  the New Year period and express hope that the exchange rate will stabilize by the end of December.

According to George Kapanadze, Director of Axis, developers prefer to play it safe and increase the prices due to significant currency fluctuations but at this stage it is not planned.
 

 "We have started New Year's discount campaign, respectively, at least until the end of January the current prices will be retained. We hope that by the time the rate will stabilize, or property prices willnecessarily grow up,"- he notes.
 

At the same time the founder of the construction company GDG Bezhan Tsakadze announces that the appreciation of the US dollar will not lead to an increase in real estate prices, it is even possible that they  will become a bit cheaper.

"The cost of apartments is determined in  US dollars, and based on that the lari’s  fall should in no way affect the value of the property, "- he adds.
 

Realtors also believe that the depreciation necessarily will affect a price when buying an apartment but will  not affect the cost of rent.

CEO  of the company Beruka  Avtandil Gugeshashvili says  that the GEL fall will affect the prices on the secondary housing market.
 

"However, most likely rental prices will remain unchanged, at least yet there are no signs that any real estate companies intends to update the prices in this area," – he stresses.
 

Giorgi Kobakhidze, a representative of G & T Company,  has the  opposite opinion, he believes that the devaluation of the GEL will lead to an increase in rental prices, but not for purchase of apartments.

"Real estate is mostly sold in dollars, and it can rise only if someone buys or sells an apartment in the national currency, but such cases are very few. In general, the current prices for apartments is a serious problem, since even on the backdrop of the economic downturn they are growing up,"- henotes
 

According to the expert Guram Palavandishvili, if GEL rises above the mark of 2, prices of apartmentswill fell by 10%.

"Strengthening of the US dollar will lead to lower prices for real estate. Given the instability, real estate will fall in price. If the country suffers a serious economic downturn, the developers will not be able to increase prices. Although, I do not think that things will go so far,"- he adds.

Source:commersant.ge