Townhouses are in active demand from buyers

Townhouses are still considered atypical for the real estate market in Ukraine, but they are becoming increasingly popular among home buyers in the Kiev region. Developers recorded an increase in the number of transactions in 2012.

And the lion's share of these transactions takes place in the economy segment. where the proposals are in the price range of 50-90 thousand dollars. In fact for the amount equal to the cost of one or two-bedroom apartment in Kiev, you can buy a much more spacious and comfortable housing near the capital.

According to the director of the consulting company, Viktor Kovalenko, now in the base there are 115 towns in Ukraine, where townhouses for sale.

From 115 towns, 46 towns with townhouses are offered in the Kiev region. Townhouses are mostly built, construction is under way in 7 townships. Construction is stopped in 9 projects.

There are townhouses for sale with sizes from 40 sq.m. to 392 sq.m. and land plots from 1 / 2 to 5 hectares, costing from $600 to $2000 per "square meter".

The largest number of townhouses is located in Kiev-Svyatoshinsky district (21), in second place is Obukhovsky area (9 towns) and in third place is Vyshgorodsky district (6 towns).

The trends are repeating

According to observations of Victor Kovalenko, outlined in 2011 a trend of buying country housing economy class in the Kiev region as an alternative to apartments in Kiev and was developed in 2012. At the market there is a growing supply of townhouses which can be divided into two types according to their characteristics. The first type is townhouses with an adjacent territory in front of the section and with their own yard in the back of the building.

The second type is the twin townhouses (duplexes). They are characterized by the fact that the buildings have an adjacent area only in front of the building with an area of only 0.5 to 1 hundred square meters. "Such objects give the developer a higher density per hectare of land and allow offering a more economical product," the expert notes.

Some experts see more disadvantages than advantages in small townhouses. Excessive compactness leads to loss of living space, because it is still necessary to provide for common areas - corridors, stairwells and volumes for placement of engineering facilities. "Townhouses of less than 80 square meters are inefficient projects," the expert concludes.

According to Viktor Kovalenko, in 2011 there was a price reduction of up to 10-15% in the belt to 20 km from Kiev. But the price decrease does not mean the cheapening of townhouses in specific projects, but more economical projects located further from Kiev and in less prestigious areas are entering the market, which affects the average price of townhouses in this segment.

The benchmark - the offer price

What kind of "townhouses" are people looking for? Experts say that the most important criterion is the cost of a townhouse, followed by transport accessibility, internal infrastructure, the area, the quality of the material used in construction, the possibility of obtaining a mortgage or installment plans. "The analysis of inquiries that come to the company from potential buyers shows that the townhouses of the economy class with the area of 50-100 square meters are of the greatest interest, - says Victor Kovalenko. - The size of the land plot is in the range of 2-3 hundred square meters. The main demand falls on the price range of $50-90 thousand.

The experts noted that for some customers a townhouse is an intermediate choice between a city apartment and a private house. Although there are families who buy townhouses as final dwellings for the foreseeable future because they are satisfied with this format of housing. Among the clients of developers and realtors the majority are young families with children.

Prices are real and desirable

Victor Kovalenko notes that the townhouses that we met on the market often do not correspond to the notion of low-cost housing. There are projects where the price of an apartment in a townhouse is comparable with the price of a country house in the same housing estate.
In recent years the market has seen many more offers at "normal" prices. The expert believes that the quality-price ratio contributes to the success of a project. And if a company is solving short-term tasks, the cost of the offer will be biased, but if the strategy of the company is based on the long-term development aspects, it will be successful.

However, the economic crisis has made buyers, who buy real estate, to be tempted not only by low prices of offers but also by other, not less important characteristics of suburban settlements. According to Victor Kovalenko, all other things being equal, including a developed infrastructure, central communications and location of the village, the important criterion is the degree of readiness of the village where such housing is being sold. "Today the number of such settlements is rapidly decreasing as a result of the long-term lack of investment in countryside construction during the economic crisis," concludes the expert.