The First Deputy Minister of Economy of Georgia does not agree with the available information regarding reductions in the real estate market.

Note: Radio "Commersant" conducted a journalistic investigation to determine at what expense there was transactions increase on the real estate market in the background when, in fact, demand in the sector has reduced.

According to the official statistics, in total 510 794 transactions were carried out in the country's real estate field in 2011 that is 25.8% more than in 2010. The real estate agencies representatives told "Commersant" that in 2011 the demand for real estate in Georgia has decreased compared with 2010. As a journalistic research showed, the reason was a registration of the property taken in exchange of debt by banks and private creditors.

It found that in 2011 property worth $ 500 million was transferred to the hands of  the banks, private creditors and MFOs in exchange of debt.

According to the Deputy Economy Minister Irakli Matkava, the real estate market has not returned to pre-crisis level, although the situation has improved in comparison with 2009. Matkava doesn’t share the opinion that buying - selling increased only at the expense of the apartments taken for debt. To prove his statements he says that second-hand apartments are popular among Georgian users, which is why, in his words, developers are trying to return the user's trust.

Source: www.commersant.ge