Armenia real estate market up amid Russian influx

(17 Jul 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yerevan - 14 July
1. Various of residential blocks
2. Wide of locals outside residential block
3. Wide of residential blocks shot through windows
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yerevan - 11 July
4. Daniil Bolshakov opening laptop, T-shirt says (Russian) "I'm a journalist! Don't shoot."
5. Close of apartment listings on screen
6. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Daniil Bolshakov, immigrant from Russia:
"We're waiting for a friend to come from St. Petersburg, so there will be three of us renting the place. This apartment costs 300,000 drams which is a bit less than 50,000 Rubles (about $800-900). I believe you can rent a very decent two, three-bedroom apartment for 50,000 Rubles in St. Petersburg and it will probably be nicer than this one."
7. Various of buildings
8. Men entering real estate agency
9. Real estate agents behind desk
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vage Daniyelian, real estate agency manager:
"We've had many clients coming from Russia starting from March. Ukraine and Belarus as well, but the main wave is from Russia. They started renting apartments and the rates started going up. The rent prices are now 30-40 percent more than before."
11. Agents behind desks
12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vage Daniyelian, real estate agency manager:
Reporter: "There have been reports about owners terminating contracts with previous tenants to bring in new ones. Has that happened?"
Daniyelian: "Yes it happened. Not often, but there were situations where they terminated contracts and paid cancellation fee to rent out the apartment at a higher rate. There were cases like that."
13. Various of real estate agent and Nina Gulambarian entering building and apartment
14. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Nina Gulambarian, local resident:
"If I wanted to rent an apartment on approximately a $600 budget, three months ago, I could find a nice apartment in the centre for 600. One-bedroom. And now, the same apartment will cost about 1,200."
15. Government building
16. Armenian flag
17. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Hmayak Hagobyan, head of national inventory and market analysis department:
"First of all, the government has no levers for regulating the real estate market, and in my opinion, it needs no regulating. The market regulates itself."
18. Various of construction site
19. Various of residential building
20. Wide of Ararat mountain
STORYLINE:
The Armenian real estate market is experiencing a surge due to the influx of migrants from Russia - with Yerevan rent prices up by 30-40 percent since the beginning of the year.
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled the country, Armenia being one of their top destinations.
The Armenian rental market is growing dramatically to accommodate the migration flow, with more and more people deciding to rent out their properties rather than sell them.  
Despite the high rates it's difficult to find any housing for rent in the capital's centre.
Twenty-two-year-old journalist Daniil Bolshakov arrived in Yerevan from St. Petersburg in early March in fear of being called up and was told that prices "have gone way up".
Daniil rents an apartment with two others and says they could probably find something "nicer" for the same price back in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Vage Daniyelian, a real estate agency manager, says that the strong demand had resulted in some owners terminating contracts with existing tenants in order to rent out the appartments at a higher rate to newcomers.
Meanwhile the situation has made life for locals much more difficult.
A construction boom is now very likely.

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