Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, during the public presentation of next year’s fiscal policy, also referred to the situation on the real estate market. He said that the Government wishes to moderate the increase in prices or even reduce them. Among the causes that determine the rise in real estate prices, he mentioned expensive construction materials, rather expensive land, and labor, which has also become more costly.

The Prime Minister is right when he speaks about the need to increase people’s access to housing. Because even if the officially registered housing stock (occupied and unoccupied dwellings) amounted, on 1 January 2026, to 1,365.3 thousand dwellings (a 2.1% increase compared to the situation recorded on 1 January 2025), and the total area of the housing stock reached 93,379.3 thousand m² (a 1.7% increase compared to the total area recorded on 1 January 2025), the problem remains acute.

At first glance, the number of dwellings and the total area of the housing stock should be sufficient for the approximately 2.4 million people with regular residence in Moldova. But the problem lies in the geographical location of these dwellings. Thus, Chișinău, where one third of the country’s total population de facto lives, accounts for only 26.4% of the total number of registered dwellings. It should also be noted that while the Republic of Moldova is going through a visible process of urbanization, the largest number of dwellings is found in rural areas — 748 thousand (54.8%).

Thus, in urban areas we have an insufficient amount of living space (especially in Chișinău), and the problem is further aggravated by high prices, which represent one of the causes determining the continuous decrease in the number of real estate transactions. This is visible also in the data for the first half of the current year, when the number of sale‑purchase transactions of real estate decreased significantly compared to the same period of the previous year. If in the first half of 2025 7,483 apartments were sold, then in the same period of 2026 — 5,493 apartments. We are talking about a 26.6% decrease. Some experts speak about signals that the real estate market is recovering and point to the 17.2% increase in sale‑purchase transactions in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of the current year, but the problem still remains.

In an open letter that I sent at the beginning of the current year to the then Prime Minister, Alexandru Munteanu, I presented concrete proposals on how the situation on the real estate market can be improved and how people’s access to housing can be increased. Given that the new Prime Minister is concerned with this issue, I decided to make a brief overview of the necessary solutions, which fall under the competence of both central and local authorities. And here, local and central authorities could initiate a dialogue in which they would establish who will take which concrete measures. Below I will refer to these measures.

The first measure, which falls under the competence of municipalities, would be the auctioning of small plots (0.5 ha). For this, municipalities should form a reserve of urban land, divide it into 0.5 ha lots, and organize open auctions to which only legal entities and individual enterprises with proven experience in construction ≤ 10,000 m² would be admitted.

Another necessary measure would be the development and adoption of new urban development plans with the sale of plots at the edge of cities or municipalities. As a result, we would obtain the reclassification of agricultural land in suburbs into residential areas; the allocation of large districts, which would be divided into sections for different developers, but with a unified infrastructure plan.

Another necessary measure would be the creation of new districts with turnkey infrastructure. Municipalities could build themselves, or together with investors, roads, utilities, and social facilities (schools, kindergartens, health centers) before the construction of housing. As a result, the attractiveness of suburbs would increase; young families would receive affordable housing with facilities.

It is also necessary to simplify and accelerate the issuance of construction permits, as well as simplify the documentation package for small projects (construction and reconstruction), meaning a reduced list of requirements for buildings up to 3–5 floors.

At the governmental level, the modernization of the “First Home” program is required. In this regard, it is necessary to: limit participation only to the purchase of dwellings with an area of up to 100 m² and with a price that does not exceed the established limit; give priority to families with children and young professionals; correlate the issue with regions with active new construction; new districts, housing in municipalities.

Another measure would be the introduction of a tax on rapid resale (following the example of Ukraine). This could be set at 6–10% of the value of property held for less than three years. As a result, speculative transactions would be reduced, and the market would become more stable. This tax would be temporary — for example, for a period of three years.

Another welcome measure would be the launch of joint projects between the state and builders (developers) through public‑private partnerships. Thus, housing construction with state participation would be stimulated in order to accelerate the expansion of supply and ensure socially affordable apartments without overheating the market.

These, as well as other similar solutions, could truly ease the situation on the real estate market and offer people broader access to their own housing.

Mircea Baciu, entrepreneur from the Republic of Moldova