The Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE) has published the analytical note “Why Don’t Real Estate Prices Fall, Even Though the Market is Frozen?” authored by Stanislav Ghilețchi. He points out that Moldova’s real estate market faces an apparent contradiction: apartment sales nationwide dropped from 22,565 in 2024 to 10,832 in 2025 — a 52% decrease — yet prices remain almost unchanged at the historic peak of €1,700–€1,900 per square meter.

The expert notes that construction permits for residential blocks have declined sharply in 2025, the year following the steepest apartment price increases of the past decade. According to the report, while 107 permits were issued in 2017, only 33 were granted in 2025 — the lowest figure in recent years.

“The drastic drop in permits reflects two distinct structural problems: increasing difficulty in obtaining land for construction and a bureaucratic, non-transparent, and unpredictable permitting process. The absence of a functional general urban plan for the capital has led to flawed development logic. Instead of expanding into new areas, construction has concentrated in already crowded neighborhoods, further straining existing infrastructure,” the note states.

It also highlights that over the past 20 years, citizens have invested approximately €4 billion in Chisinau’s real estate, without proportional public investment in transport, schools, or healthcare services.

Key recommendations from IPRE’s analysis:

• Ensure complementarity between public and private investments, especially in developing new districts with modern infrastructure.
• Diversify investment alternatives, since much of the demand for real estate comes from the lack of viable financial instruments.
• Improve market transparency by publishing aggregated data on real transaction prices, which are already recorded in notarial acts and cadastral registers.

According to the analyst, creating credible medium-term savings and investment options would structurally reduce pressure on the real estate market. At the same time, publishing real transaction-based indicators would provide far greater value for both the market and public policy.