Kyiv’s residential property market has come to a standstill. The latest data from Minfin shows that transactions are being postponed, calls and viewings are declining, and some buyers have decided to put their plans on hold until autumn.

The reasons are clear: intensified attacks on the capital and disruptions in the funding of the government-backed eOselia and eVidnovlennia programmes, which account for at least one-third of all residential property sales.

Yet behind this pause lies a far more interesting story than simply “the market has frozen.” It has not frozen evenly — and this unevenness reveals how the concept of housing value is changing in Ukraine.

When safety became part of the deal

Just four years ago, conversations between buyers and real estate agents focused mainly on price, layout, location and the condition of the property.

Today, another consideration has been added to the list — and it can outweigh all the others: Does the building have a shelter? Is it energy-independent? Do the lifts continue to operate during power outages?

Kyiv-based real estate agent Iryna Lukhanina describes the shift as follows: some clients reconsider the location of a property they had already selected if the area has recently been hit, and ask to see alternatives.

Demand is moving closer to shelters, underground car parks and metro stations — and further away from industrial zones and warehouses.

This is not a temporary emotional reaction. It is a reassessment of risk that has already become embedded in purchasing decisions.

A market splitting in two

The main conclusion of the Minfin study is that there has been no collapse in prices. But there is no single market trend either.

Instead, two very different markets are emerging under the same label of “Kyiv real estate.”

The first is the market for high-quality housing in modern monolithic-frame buildings, with shelters, energy independence and locations in comparatively safer areas.

Prices in this segment continue to rise by 8–12% annually, despite the war and the current slowdown in transactions. Sellers of these properties are reluctant to negotiate because demand has not disappeared. It has merely been temporarily restrained by external factors — funding disruptions and the pause in activity following intensified attacks.

The second is the market for buildings constructed in the 1960s and 1970s: Khrushchev-era apartment blocks, prefabricated panel buildings and properties that have not been modernised, lack shelters and rely on outdated utility systems.

This is where genuine price negotiations are taking place.

Roman Riabov, head of the valuation company Delta Consulting, says directly that prices for this type of housing have remained virtually unchanged, while buyers may expect discounts of 10% or more.

The difference is not simply location or floor area. The key distinction is whether the building has undergone modernisation.

Why this is an opportunity, not just a problem

It would be easy to interpret these figures as a verdict on Ukraine’s ageing housing stock: that Khrushchev-era and panel buildings are destined to lose value until they are eventually demolished. But that is an overly simplistic view.

A building that no longer meets the “safety plus autonomy” criteria does not cease to be an asset. It becomes illiquid in its current condition. This is a crucial distinction. The problem is not necessarily the building itself, but the absence of a mechanism capable of moving it from one condition to another: from having no shelter to having one; from outdated utility networks to modernised systems; from having no clear market agency to being supported by a coherent investment rationale.

This is precisely where DOMOVA’s work begins. Rather than simply labelling ageing housing stock as “problematic,” DOMOVA develops a pathway through which such properties can be transformed into high-quality, liquid and safe housing. That is the essence of redevelopment: turning an asset that is temporarily undervalued by the market into one that meets the new criteria shaping demand.

What this means for owners and buyers

For owners of apartments in aging buildings without shelters, it is important to understand that passively waiting for “old prices to return” is unlikely to work. The market has already revealed which criteria it now considers essential — and outdated infrastructure is not among them.

For buyers, the growing divide between market segments creates genuine room for choice. A discount on outdated housing is not always a reason to walk away. In some cases, it is an opportunity to assess the property through the lens of its future potential. Is there a realistic path to modernisation? Could the site be redeveloped? Can the building be transformed into a fundamentally different type of asset?

The current market pause is a period of calm before funding for government programmes is expected to resume closer to autumn.

However, the segmentation we are seeing today will not disappear once activity returns. It is likely to become even more pronounced.

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Based on Minfin’s July 2026 analysis of the Kyiv real estate market.