Northern regions of Kazakhstan report soaring interest in apartment rentals

According to analysts from the OLX company, the number of search queries using the word “apartment” has sharply increased accross the country’s Northern regions.

For instance, this rate increased by 40% in Astana, 25% in Pavlodar, 50% in Aktobe and 80% in Petropavlovsk. The interest in renting apartments rose twofold in Almaty and Uralsk, 2.5fold in Ust-Kamenogorsk, and threefold in Kostanay.

At the same time, not all apartment owners are rushing to take advantage of this growing demand. The number of “for lease” ads increased in towns such as Uralsk and Kostanay (by 40%), and Petropavlovsk and Aktobe (30%). However, this rate didn’t change in Almaty, Ust-Kamenogorsk and Pavlodar.

According to the survey, the cost of one square meter of a rented apartment has risen by 43% in Pavlodar, 24% in Astana and 18% in Uralsk.

The country’s government said that it is keeping an eye on the situation. On September 27, Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov ordered the cabinet to prevent housing prices from increasing further.

As of September 27, the average rent for an apartment in Almaty was about $418-628 a month. In Astana, a one-room apartment costs as low as $272 a month.

However, real estate agents say that the cost of rent is going up every day.

On September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared partial military mobilization due to the war in Ukraine. As the result, many young Russians started fleeing the country toward neighboring countries including Kazakhstan. This influx of thousands of people has driven the cost of rent up.