Hey everyone, it’s Sean Almeida, CEO of Vestor.Estate. It’s been a while since our last contact, but things have been really crazy on the rental side. In fact, it’s the busiest I’ve seen since 2013, which feels really good. It seems like the market is coming alive again, and every time I post something, it feels like we’re getting even more business. Let’s start our Kyiv market update!

Busy rental market

On the rental side, what’s happening is that all of these organizations, like humanitarian groups, NGOs, the UN, and the Red Cross, are starting to send people over to our area. Most organizations send people to multiple places, so it’s already happening. We had a couple of dozen places rented out and managed and a few vacant places where we were looking for tenants when the war started.

Of course, when the war started, most of those places became empty over time. We probably lost 80% of our tenants. We had a bunch of empty places at one time, which is unusual for us. Usually, it’s mostly occupied with just a few vacancies. But after the war, we had tons of places, and the market was dead. Nobody was coming, and there was a lot of uncertainty.

Recent uptick in demand

However, people are more confident, and observers watch the situation. They feel more comfortable sending their employees here. In just the last few weeks, we’ve occupied almost all of our places, except for a few larger ones, because most people coming here are single. The market is already tightening, and prices will probably increase. We even had a bidding war on one of our small apartments this weekend. A month and a half ago, every person who was renting had multiple places they could choose from, but now it’s getting harder to find modern and decent places.

Our business is focused on the Golden Gate area, where I live, and the embassies. It’s all proven true that people want to live closer to other people and to the embassies because they feel safer. The uptake is getting close to where, in another couple of weeks, there will be almost nothing modern and decent left, and it’ll start returning to the older stock that was renovated 10-15 years ago. Prices will probably start to rise.

Increased activity and demand

It’s been pretty wild and super busy on the rental side. Normally, we have ten viewings for every 1 or 2 offers per week, but now we’re getting three viewings and two offers. It’s also been really encouraging for us to know that we’re helping people who will be helping Ukraine find places to live so they can do their job with all the various things they’re doing. As you’ve probably heard, there’s a lot of good stuff planned, with a lot of potential investment. But right now, it’s more about humanitarian stuff like the World Food Program and helping wounded Ukrainian troops and civilians.

Sales haven’t changed, but I just wanted to give you a report of what it’s looking like. It’s as busy as ever, and we think it will continue as things progress. We’ll be in touch soon with a new Kyiv market update.