BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 12
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
The number of car sales in Uzbekistan in 2020 decreased by 2.5 percent compared to 2019 due to the sharp drop in car sales in March, April and July, Trend reports referring to the analysis of COVID-19 impact on the real estate and car markets made by Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR).
According to CERR, before the introduction of quarantine restrictions related to the spread of coronavirus infection, demand in the real estate market in Uzbekistan increased monthly by an average of 6-7 percent. Sales in real estate markets in Tashkent and Tashkent region account for 40-45 percent of the total market.
Starting from April, a lockdown was introduced across the country, which led to a decrease in demand for real estate by 87.1 percent (94.2 percent in Tashkent and 89.8 percent in Tashkent region) compared to the same period in 2019. The number of completed contracts for the purchase and sale of real estate in the country from May through June jumped by 25.9 percent and 35.2 percent, respectively.
“In a short period, the significant increase in sales is explained by the gradual easing of quarantine measures since May, on the one hand, and the simplification of the permanent registration procedure, on the other,” the reports says.
Demand in the property market has returned to a long-term trend by September 2020. In particular, in September, the number of real estate purchases and sales increased by 24.2 percent compared to the previous month (41.7 percent compared to the same period in 2019), in October - by 1.7 percent (by 24.8 percent), in November - by -0.5 percent (by 22.9 percent) and in December - by 20.9 percent (by -17.1 percent).
As for car sales, usually, the monthly growth in car sales in the primary and secondary markets in Uzbekistan is on average 2-3 percent.
As a result of the introduction of strict quarantine measures from mid-March 2020, the number of registered and re-registered cars in March decreased by 17.3 percent compared to the same period in 2019 (by 34.6 percent compared to the previous month), and in April - by 73. 8 percent (by 63.1 percent)
Starting from May, the situation in the car market has begun to recover again. In particular, in June, car sales increased by 14.8 percent compared to the same period in 2019. However, as a result of the re-introduction of quarantine measures from July 10 to August 15, activity in the car market in July slowed down somewhat compared to May-June.
In September, sales were up 0.5 percent month-on-month (up 29.5 percent from September 2019). The growth in October amounted to 2 percent compared to September (19.2 percent compared to October 2019). This indicator slightly decreased (by 1.7 percent and 1.9 percent, respectively) from November through December, compared to the previous month.
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