DESPITE POPULAR OPINION, REAL ESTATE PRICE IN ARMENIA ARE RISING NOT OWING TO IMMIGRATING IRANIAN ARMENIANS
Yerevan, June 6. ArmInfo. The threat of international financial
blockade that Iran has faced in connection with the latest ineffective
international negotiations on the national nuke program makes Iranians
transferring their personal savings abroad or converting them into
gold, writes The Washington Times. The newspaper reports some 200
billions of dollars were transferred from the country last year.
In the meantime, the popular opinion that the above tendency of
capital export from Iran is the key impetus of the “inexplicable”
rise of real estate prices in Armenia does not correspond to reality.
Talking to ArmInfo, Artem Pribilsky, Head of the Real Estate
Market, said the annual investments in real estate in Armenia by the
representatives of Armenian Diaspora can be estimated at $50-60 million
just on a hunch. It makes not less than 7% of the funds circulated
in the housing market. He said Iranian Armenians do not occupy the
“first class niche,” they are more likely to belong to the middle
class who do not claim elite and expensive apartments. The specialist
said that, as a rule, rich Iranian Armenians emigrate to Europe and
the USA, while the niche of elite houses in Yerevan is occupied by
officials or businessmen. A. Pribilsky believes the situation in the
real estate market stable despite the high prices.
And this stability is rather supported by the development of mortgage
crediting in the country.
To note, the annual growth of prices for houses and commercial
premises in Armenia for the last 2-3 years totaled about 25-30%. The
high growth rates are observed also in the mortgage crediting sphere
i.e. 2% for the first quarter of 2006, about $30 million.