In January 2023, the cost of renting an apartment in Kazakhstan fell by 2.6 times to 150 thousand tenge (just over 22 thousand rubles at the current exchange rate). This was told to socialbites.ca by Marina Ilyashchenko, head of the residential real estate rental department at the Etazhi company in Kazakhstan.
“The market is gradually bringing the rental rates to acceptable values. It increased 100-150% when partial mobilization was announced in Russia in September 2022. And finding a decent apartment in the price range of 400-800 thousand tenge (60-121 thousand rubles) was problematic. “Now you can choose good options at a price of 150,000 tenge,” said Ilyashchenko.
The real estate agent explained that the decrease in the rental rates of apartments in Kazakhstan was due to the decrease in the demand for real estate in Russia in the country.
“The demand from Russians to rent residential real estate in Kazakhstan continues to decline. “If it grew by 100-150 percent immediately after the announcement of partial mobilization and was high by the end of October 2022, then there has been a decline in demand since November, followed by rental rates,” he said.
According to Ilyashchenko, Russians staying in Kazakhstan turn to real estate agents to rent cheaper housing.
“We are now marking the second wave of internal migration. Those who rent apartments expensively due to a surge in demand are turning to find a comfortable but also cheaper option for temporary housing,” he stressed.
The realtor explained that there are very few such appeals at the moment.
“The number of people staying in Kazakhstan is not as high as in September-October 2022. Some restrictions are related to the fact that Russians must obtain a temporary residence permit for a long stay on the territory of Kazakhstan, ”Ilyashchenko emphasized.
As Kazakhstan Labor and Social Protection Minister Tamara Duysenova reported in November, about 400,000 Russians have entered the republic since the declaration of partial mobilization in Russia. 320,000 of them returned, and about 100,000 Russians remained in Kazakhstan.