Citizens of Azerbaijan and Turkey Have Acquired Residential Properties in Armenia: "Hraparak"

"Hraparak" newspaper reports: We asked the head of the Cadastre Committee, Suren Tovmasyan, about the current situation in the real estate market. Everywhere there is talk of large-scale construction, high demand for real estate, and consequently, rising prices. Tovmasyan indicated that the real estate market is currently experiencing historically high activity.

"Considering the number of transactions and applications received by the Cadastre Committee today, the years 2021-2022 witnessed a peak in the entire real estate registration process. In 2021, we processed around 730,000 applications, and this volume of purchases was managed without increasing the number of Cadastre Committee employees, merely by enhancing the digital agenda. And those 730,000 applications, considering we had around 530,000 applications in 2018-19, an increase of 200,000 shows the extent of activity in the real estate market," he stated.

- What is the reason for this activity?

- Economic activity, because the real estate market cannot activate itself or decline without economic activity. When the economy begins to grow, investments start to increase correspondingly, and if there is investment, there cannot be a lack of investment in the real estate sector.

- Are there many applications for the legalization of illegal or informal constructions among those applications?

- The Cadastre Committee does not receive applications for the legalization of informal constructions; these are received by the municipalities. However, if we talk about the increase in informal constructions, I can say that this is also an economic activity because previously, people had informal constructions and did not have the money to legalize them. However, until now, the number of recorded informal constructions on the Cadastre Committee platform does not exceed 10,000; if I'm not mistaken, this does not constitute a significant percentage of that 200,000.

- Have prices only increased in Yerevan, or are they rising in the regions as well?

- In all regions, a certain level of price increase is observed, but if I'm not mistaken, the highest increase after Yerevan is in Kotayk. It is considered to have the most active market after Yerevan.

- In Kotayk, where is this happening? In tourist zones?

- Not only in tourist zones, but in general. Kotayk has significant agricultural areas where there is not only tourism but also agriculture and production.

- There have been reports in the media that citizens from Azerbaijan and Turkey have been coming and acquiring real estate in Armenia. Can you confirm whether there have been citizens from Azerbaijan or Turkey who have tried to acquire real estate in Armenia in the last two to three years?

- You see, the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, from probably the day it was established, prohibits the acquisition of agricultural land by foreign citizens. This is due to the fact that agricultural lands are large in size and, in general, agricultural land has strategic significance for our state. Therefore, we consider this as prohibited, and there is no intention to make any changes here. Regarding apartments, residential areas, industrial zones, etc., the legislation does not impose any restrictions. Since 2005, there have been citizens from Azerbaijan and Turkey who have acquired residential or industrial and public service areas in Armenia. In the case of Turkish citizens, the number is 70 from 2005 until now, with the maximum number of transactions, if I'm not mistaken, in 2017, which did not exceed ten in terms of apartment acquisitions. But at the same time, when we say 'Turkish citizen,' most of their surnames end with '-yan'. In other words, they are Armenians.

- What can you say about the citizens of Azerbaijan?

- There were also citizens of Azerbaijan among them who are Armenians, but they had that citizenship and came here, acquiring certain documentation through the appropriate procedures.

- Are they Armenians living in Azerbaijan?

- I cannot say whether they live there or not; we cannot see that. The issue is that this is not a real problem that we should be discussing. Today, for example, in certain countries, when a citizen of another country acquires real estate, what happens is that based on that investment, they are given the corresponding residency right. Moreover, this also involves attracting certain financial resources into the economy of the state from the outside world.

- Do you not see a strategic problem considering the not-so-friendly relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, despite your government's attempts at friendship?

- No, see, the issue is what it pertains to. In general, regarding the acquisition of real estate in the world, if we say that agricultural land is restricted and cannot be acquired, can anyone point out an issue that arises from the purchase of an apartment in the Republic of Armenia?

- They gain capital in our country, real estate can occupy our housing stock, especially since they have significant resources, they are many in number, they can impose economic expansion on Armenia, as in Adjara.

- Economic expansion has nothing to do with whether they own real estate here or not. Economic expansion is not under the purview of the Cadastre Committee; this belongs to the economy sector, and if the state starts to see an issue there, it will begin to apply the relevant tools.

- Have any properties been acquired in Armenia since the war by citizens from Azerbaijan or Turkey?

- Definitely not. I noted that the most acquisitions occurred in 2017, and that was merely ten apartments.

For more details, see today's issue of the newspaper.