DUSHANBE (TCA) — The demand for real estate, especially for housing, and motor vehicles has been declining in Tajikistan, Avesta news agency reported.
According to local realtors, the demand for residential real estate has significantly fallen since the fourth quarter of last year, which affected housing prices.
Prices for housing have plunged by almost 50 percent. If two years ago the average price of one square meter of housing in some neighborhoods in the Tajik capital Dushanbe reached US $1.3 thousand, today it has fallen to $630-$650.
According to car dealers, prices for cars have also declined along with a sharp decline in the number of buyers on the market. Cars in Tajikistan are often sold partly for cash and partly for barter.
Last month the head of Tajikistan’s Customs Service, Abdufattokh Goib, said that the import of goods and motor vehicles in Tajikistan last year reduced by US $863 million compared to 2014. In particular, the import of cars was reduced by 34.8 thousand, down to 11.7 thousand cars.
“We forecast that the import of motor vehicles will continue to reduce this year as well,” the customs chief said. “One of the reasons is the lowering purchasing power of the population due to decreasing remittances, including from Russia. In the past, many [labor] migrants, upon returning home, could afford buying a car, which is not the case now.”
