Installment plans with extended repayment terms offered by developers are in high demand among homebuyers and are an alternative to government mortgage programs, Ukrainian developers told Interfax-Ukraine.
“In 2024-2025, we are seeing growth in the share of customers who choose long-term interest-free installment plans from KAN Development. This is due to increased buyer confidence in the future, especially given the improved security situation in Kyiv. The eOselya and eVidnovuvannya programs have had a limited impact on our sales so far. Most customers choose other financial solutions, in particular our own programs,” said the KAN Development press service.
In recent years, there has been a growing demand for longer installment plans, noted Irina Mikhaleva, SMO Alliance Novobud. In addition, developers are offering programs with reduced down payments.
“At the start of construction, we can offer longer installment plans—12, 24, or 36 months. This is because, as a rule, installment plans are provided until the project is commissioned. We also frequently receive requests from buyers to reduce the down payment, which can be anywhere from 10% to 50%,” said the expert.
The Kovalskaya Group’s internal installment plans offer a fixed price per square meter for up to five years with a down payment of 30% of the property value. According to the company, they take an individual approach to buyers’ needs.
“Installment plans have become more flexible: if a customer realizes that they will not be able to make monthly payments, we are open to dialogue and ready to work together to find a convenient solution. It is possible to agree on an individual schedule, for example, to extend the installment period, temporarily reduce the amount of payments with a subsequent return to standard payments, restructure the loan, or exchange the apartment for another of the same size or in another construction project,” explained the developer.
The company “RIEL” in the second launch complex of the capital’s Brother project offers buyers the opportunity to purchase housing in installments until the facility is put into operation in the second quarter of 2028, noted Alla Chipak, sales coordinator at “RIEL” in Lviv. In addition, in some residential complexes, the down payment has been reduced to 10% of the apartment price.
Given the popularity of the developer’s renovation option, Intergal-Bud also offers the possibility of paying for renovations in installments along with the apartment, said Anatoly Kovrizhenko, deputy commercial director of Intergal-Bud.
According to the DIM group of companies, developer lending programs with extended installment terms are an alternative to state mortgage programs with loan limits. The company has its own financial programs, under which the down payment is 30% of the cost of the property, and the installment period is up to five years.
In addition, DIM offers a long-term installment plan of up to 10 years.
“In early June, we launched a long-term installment plan in hryvnia for a period of 10 years, with the option of early repayment, price fixing in hryvnia, fixing the price per square meter in the contract, without linking it to the exchange rate or market price increases, with a fixed interest rate of 10% per annum in hryvnia and a down payment of 30%. It was planned to launch as a pilot project for two months, testing it in large residential complexes such as Metropolis, Lucky Land, and Park Lake City. However, we received quite a few inquiries from buyers, which turned into real deals, so we continued the program until the end of the summer,” said Alexander Nasirovsky, managing partner of DIM.
We understand that the issue of security in residential complexes, including social infrastructure, requires a comprehensive approach.
That is why in our projects we apply a three-level security system, namely: personal security (closed area, access control system, video surveillance and security), energy security (enhanced means of automation of engineering communications, use of alternative energy sources (if necessary), as well as design of geothermal pumps for apartment construction, which reduces heating consumption by at least 40% and energy consumption by about 35 kWh per square meter), and social security,” says the company. This, as the practice of already inhabited houses shows, removes a lot of domestic issues and cohabitation on the territory.
Social facilities are not isolated in time and space point developments (schools, kindergartens, development centers, community centers), but part of our living ecosystem. Therefore, they are fully designed according to our approaches and values: well-thought-out ergonomics of living space, high level of energy efficiency (achieved, for example, through double-glazed windows with a new generation of high-quality glass with magnetron sputtering, which allows sunlight to penetrate into the room while not letting the sun’s heat through, durable heat-resistant mineral wool from the global brand Rockwool, which provides an optimal internal microclimate without interfering with the natural diffusion of excess water vapor and demonstrating high thermal insulation properties), aesthetics and service of the highest level.
Currently, our portfolio of large social facilities includes kindergartens and schools at various stages of implementation, and we already know the operators – KMDS (Lucky Land residential complex) and an elementary school in the Park Lake City multifunctional cluster (British International School in Ukraine), a community center for neighbors in Park Lake City with a restaurant and several attraction areas, where everyone will find something for everyone. A bilingual kindergarten will also be located in Park Lake City. It will be a two-storey institution with an area of almost 3 thousand square meters, designed for 180 children aged 3 to 5 years.
In total, we will have 6 kindergartens in Lucky Land, so we have enough work to do. We plan to implement everything gradually with the construction of new houses in order to organically meet the demand of young parents for a high-quality, safe and comfortable space for their children to grow up.
Daria Bedia, Marketing Director at DIM
The share of investment transactions in the structure of sales in the primary housing market is about 15%, which is more than twice lower than the pre-war figure, according to a survey of developers conducted by Interfax-Ukraine.
“The share of investment apartments differs in different classes of residential real estate. The average rate of such transactions is about 15%. Since the beginning of last year, the share of apartments under development has remained virtually unchanged, while it has halved compared to the pre-war period,” KAN Development told the agency.
According to the company, the portrait of the investor has not changed significantly, but there are more buyers from the regions and those wishing to purchase multi-room, family apartments.
According to the developer Alliance Novobud, the share of investment transactions in its sales structure is currently on average 15%, while before the full-scale invasion the figure was 20-25% in Brovary and 30-40% in Kyiv.
According to Iryna Mikhalova, CMO of Alliance Novobud, there is a high demand for either finished or highly finished houses, but there is also growing interest in investing in the excavation stage due to the growing shortage of finished apartments.
“The portrait of the buyer has not changed much. Most often, these are people, private investors who are engaged in the rental business or plan to sell real estate by assignment. There are also legal entities that buy apartments in bulk for resale after renovation. They have high hopes for the demand from buyers under the “eOselya” and “eRestoration” programs,” the expert noted.
Kovalska Real Estate also noted a moderate recovery in investment demand. According to Igor Subotenko, the company’s director, the share of such transactions is currently 20% in the comfort class.
“Apartments are bought to save money and to increase the margin of start-finish construction, as the cost of each new project is getting higher,” he explained.
According to the expert, investors are interested in apartments for families of four or more people: zoned one-bedroom apartments of up to 60 square meters, two- and three-bedroom apartments of up to 110 square meters.
The share of investment demand in Intergal-Bud’s sales structure is currently 10-15%, while last year it was 5-10%, and before the full-scale invasion it was 40% or more. At the same time, the portrait of the investor has changed somewhat.
“Before the full-scale invasion, we recorded a considerable interest in primary investment among business owners and representatives of the IT industry. In 2021, young people, 28-30 years old, bought housing to earn money. Now these are people aged 40+, with almost no representatives of the technology and creative industries among them, but many employees and civil servants,” said Anna Laevska, Commercial Director of Intergal-Bud.
According to her, the share of IDPs among investors has also increased, as they invest their remaining savings in square meters to earn money after purchasing residential real estate.
According to Daria Bedia, Marketing Director of DIM Group, the developer’s clients mainly buy housing for themselves, but about 10% of transactions are investment. At the same time, most of the investors are professional, who previously had real estate in their portfolio.
One-bedroom apartments are in the greatest demand in the comfort+ class, while the requested area has decreased by an average of 15 square meters.
The Group is also considering introducing a format of income housing-apartments managed by a professional operator into its projects.
“This is a separate product that we are actively developing. In two of our projects, apartments with hotel services are designed as part of residential development. Among the added value are the best service for owners from well-known operators, the ability to comfortably accommodate relatives and friends in their homes without violating their privacy, and a well-developed internal infrastructure, as the apartments become a center of attraction for additional services: spa, restaurant, coworking, children’s areas, etc.” Bedia explained.
According to Roman Davymuka, CEO of Avalon, developers are actively developing additional services for investment housing.
“People are investing mainly in the long term – if in an apartment, then to make repairs and then receive rental income. We believe that special holistic services from the developer, including repairs, are the future of the product, and the market will develop into fully finished apartments,” he said.
Kovalska Real Estate is considering a turnkey renovation service. It is expected that the cost of repairs will be $400 per square meter. The service is planned to be launched in the new phase of Rusanivska Havan residential complex, the company’s director noted.
According to the press service of KAN Development, the developer has launched the KAN Market service, which allows customers to sell or lease their real estate and manage the full cycle.
For its part, Alliance Novobud is exploring various formats of additional services for investment housing, including the management of both apartments and parking spaces.
“We are considering engaging third-party partners to implement the collaboration, as well as an internal management company,” said Mikhaleva.
Bedia, DEVELOPER, DIM, HOUSING, Kovalska Real Estate, Суботенко
The REITER HALL project by NEST developer was awarded in the category “Historic Environment Renovation Project” at the UKRAINIAN SPECIAL BUILDING AWARDS IBUILD 2023.
IBUILD is the main construction award in Ukraine, which recognizes the best representatives of the construction industry – companies that have survived in the market, support the economy and contribute to the reconstruction.
This award is a recognition of the company’s philosophy, as NEST cares about the history of Kyiv and contributes to its preservation. NEST developer builds professionally and responsibly today, and creates real estate that will become a real landmark of the city in the future.
REITER HALL will become the future center of the city, where the past meets the future, creating a unique cultural space for the development of the boldest ideas of many generations of Kyiv residents.
Special attention was paid to the idea of REITER HALL, where, in addition to Ukrainian architects, a well-known Swedish architectural firm worked, because Sweden is rightly called one of the models of modern city planning – streets, public spaces and architecture. They like to turn such objects into comfortable spaces for their contemporaries. And medieval castles harmoniously coexist alongside masterpieces of modern architecture.
Another similar project of the developer is the HILLFORT Business Mansion, which also received a valuable award on December 11, 2019, and won the “Discovery of the Year” category in the “Best Historic Environment Renovation Project” nomination.
Each object of the NEST developer is valuable both now and in the future, as it is an architectural art.
Ukrainian company Augmented Pixels, which is based in Palo Alto (California, the United States) and develops products in the fields of navigation, digital mapping and virtual/augmented reality, has raised $2 million in investments.
“Augmented Pixels, Inc. closed a $2M funding round from current and new investors and completed the development of indoor navigation, earth-scale 3D mapping and cloud localization technologies,” CEO and Founder of Augmented Pixels Vitaliy Goncharuk has said.
Augmented Pixels will use the funds to continue its innovative R&D efforts while also expanding with an executive team based in the United States.
In general, the company has raised $7 million since 2015.
As reported, ICU invested in Augmented Pixels in July 2020. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
The U.S. rocket and space technology developer Firefly Aerospace Inc., owned by Ukrainian businessman Maksym Polyakov plans to raise $350 million to scale up production and work on a medium-class launch vehicle – Firefly Beta.
Firefly Aerospace CEO Tom Markusic spoke about these plans during the IPO Edge webinar, the company’s press service said on Thursday.
“In the next five years we want to take Firefly from a $1 billion with Alpha to being on the order of a $10 billion company with a set of different launch vehicles,” Markusic said.
The company said $125 million of the funding would go toward production enhancements, such as facilities and tooling needed to ramp up launch vehicle production. The other $225 million would support growth initiatives, in particular a medium-class vehicle capable of placing 10 tonnes into orbit, about ten times more than the capacity of Alpha.
“Our development phase was $200 million, and that was funded by Maksym Polyakov and Noosphere Venture Partners […] Now we are considering expanding the list of investors in order to raise an additional $350 million, without impeding our ability or fundamentally changing our culture as a nimble, fast-moving space development company,” Markusic said.
He also confirmed plans for Alpha’s inaugural launch soon.
As reported, Firefly Aerospace has already performed checkouts of the Alpha launch vehicle.
As reported, Firefly Aerospace Inc. signed a Launch Services Agreement (LSA) with equipment and avionics company Adaptive Launch Solutions (ALS), which includes four launches of the Alpha rocket starting in 2021.
Ukraine’s Space Electric Thruster Systems (SETS) will provide its SPS-25 propulsion system for the inaugural launch of the Alpha rocket made by a rocket and space technology developer Firefly Aerospace Inc.
