This is mainly due to the increased access to financing under the government program “Prima Casa Plus”. This is evidenced by the data of the National Bank of Moldova.
The cumulative price index for residential real estate (RPPI) in Q1 amounted to 211.7%, increasing by 18.4% compared to Q4 2024 and by 35.4% compared to Q1 2024.
The RPPI index related to the supply price in the primary market was 220.9%, up 20.6% compared to Q4 2024 and up 32.9% compared to Q1 2024.
The same index related to the offer price in the secondary market amounted to 204.9%, increasing by 17.4% compared to Q4 2024 and by 36.3% relative to Q1 2024.
At the same time, the residential real estate market is showing signs of slowdown in activity, which is reflected in the reduction in the number of housing sale and purchase transactions, as well as in the reduction in the number of properties purchased with the use of mortgage loans.
This suggests that the growth in real estate prices has begun to restrain demand, as there are fewer potential buyers, given the high prices. At the same time, the share of transactions financed by mortgage loans increased during the analyzed period, fueling demand. At the end of Q4 2024, the share of sale and purchase transactions financed by mortgage loans amounted to 32.1%, and by the end of Q1 2025, this indicator reached 41.0% (up 8.9 p.p.) against the background of a significant decline in the number of transactions (-32.9%).
That is, the population’s opportunities to purchase real estate at the expense of their own funds are decreasing. The attractiveness of mortgage lending is explained by the launch of the program “Prima Casa Plus”, which significantly expanded access to its funds by increasing the amount and the possibility of financing the entire cost of purchased housing.
This has yielded results. Since the launch of the program in the third quarter of 2024, the number of mortgage loans granted per quarter has increased from 310 to 922 in the first quarter of 2025.
