Seven main trends of the Ukrainian real estate market in 2025: the view of Kirill Vereshchagin
After the start of the full-scale war, the residential real estate market in Ukraine entered a new phase. At first it was a phase of forced stoppage, then a gradual resumption of activity, but under new conditions. Approaches to investing, criteria for choosing housing, the logic of the behavior of buyers and developers have changed. In 2025, the market operates in an environment of constant risk, but these risks are no longer perceived as temporary. Against this background, a new system of priorities gradually developed, which affects all participants in the process – from the developer to the end consumer. With their thoughts on which trends define the market this year, shared founder of the marketing agency Sharks.UA Kyrylo Vereshchagin.
The expert emphasizes that trust has become the main currency of the market. In the first months after the start of the full-scale war, some developers simply disappeared, others temporarily stopped their projects. It was during this period that the logic of the consumer changed: the main criterion for choice became not only the answer to the question “what is being built”, but above all – “who is building”, and this logic is preserved in 2025. A reliable reputation, openness to communication, reporting on the progress of construction became mandatory conditions for the developer to be included in the buyer’s shortlist. In an unstable world, stability has become the most important advantage.
Kyrylo Vereshchagin cites the example of one of his clients, when potential buyers conducted in-depth independent research: they analyzed already implemented projects on LUN.ua, found publications about other properties of the developer, checked information about key employees and, as a result, refused to buy the current project.
The expert calls the second important trend the growing popularity of apartment hotels and managed real estate. Until 2022, the market was dominated by a speculative approach: buying at the pit stage and then selling after commissioning. After the start of a full-scale war, such a strategy became less predictable. Investors began to look for a clear and regular profit, so they are increasingly turning to apartment hotels with professional management. The offer is actively displacing morally outdated hotel stock housing.
Managed formats reduce the risks associated with the need to manage the rental property yourself. The popularity of apartment hotels is due to both the interest of investors and the demand among tenants who already have experience living in this format, which is common in the West. Vereshchagin cites statistics: after the start of the full-scale war, the number of new apart-hotels offered to the market increased by 25%, according to the LUN. As of 2025, 47 hotel and apartment complexes are under construction in Ukraine, and another 45 have been announced. To these figures should be added 108 hotel-type cottage towns that have appeared on the market since the beginning of 2024.
The expert calls the maintenance of demand for resort real estate in Western Ukraine the next trend. The demand for the Carpathians and Transcarpathia was formed as early as 2022 and only grew stronger every year. In 2025, interest in this region remains relatively stable, although experts’ forecasts for the future of the market are divided. Maritime regions, particularly Odesa, remain more vulnerable, so mountain destinations look more attractive both for living and for investment. Developers are responding to this demand by bringing to the market large-scale residential complexes with a high level of infrastructure and service. These facilities are focused on the concept of slow living — a leisurely, calm way of life that came from the West and is combined with the strategic expectation of a stable income.
Vereshchagin calls the stabilization of the market of Western Ukraine and the gradual return of interest to the capital region another important change. In Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk, an excess of supply over demand is already recorded. At the same time, Kyiv and the Kyiv region show a gradual recovery of activity. According to LUN data, the capital region ranks second in the number of new projects in 2025 — 22 residential complexes. Investors realized the duration of the war, but at the same time they understand: the capital remains the capital — with demand for quality housing, jobs and a higher level of service. However, situational fluctuations should not be ignored. During periods of active enemy attacks, Kyiv shows a noticeable decrease in interest in buying real estate, and consumer decisions at this time change radically.
The fifth trend, which the expert focuses on, concerns the new priorities of choice – security and autonomy. Vereshchagin emphasizes that autonomy is no longer perceived as an additional advantage — it has become a basic need. According to Visionary Service, 56% of new residential complexes have autonomous electricity and heat supply, and 97% are equipped with bomb shelters. This is the current legal standard, without which the developer is not allowed to implement projects.
Kyrylo Vereshchagin also draws attention to a novelty in the field of security: individual bomb shelters and safe rooms according to the Israeli model. Although it has not yet become a mass trend, many people have already begun to think about such solutions – given the length of the war and the realization that security is a personal responsibility. Another new vector is the rejection of the upper floors. If earlier they were considered prestigious, now buyers increasingly choose the lower floors — 2-5. This is due to both the risks of shelling and practicality: de-energizing means stopping the elevators. Therefore, the lower floors have become both safer and more convenient.
The expert also notes that inclusiveness has become another mandatory marker of quality housing. According to the latest UNICEF survey, 87% of Ukrainians consider accessibility to be one of the new values of society. Spacious entrances without thresholds, ramps, wide doors in elevators, safe movement for people with disabilities, parents with wheelchairs and the elderly – all this is now not an option, but a mandatory condition of a modern project. Developers take these parameters into account at the design stage, since the affordability of housing determines not only social ethics, but also its competitiveness on the market.
Another significant change, according to Vereshchagin, was the shortening of the planning horizon. In conditions of global and domestic instability, investors are not ready to wait for several years. Therefore, projects with a short implementation cycle — from 12 to 24 months — are gaining more and more popularity. The market needs simple and transparent models: those where you can easily calculate cost, terms, profitability and risks. It also stimulates the development of rental models and strengthens the position of those developers who can offer a clear financial strategy.
The last trend highlighted by the expert concerns the changing role of marketing. In 2025, as Vereshchagin notes, marketing ceased to be just a tool — it became a worldview. People don’t just want to buy walls — they’re looking for a place in which they recognize their home and where they can become the main characters. Developers who understand this paradigm shift will win the competition. He also draws attention to the growing role of artificial intelligence — from the creation of visual content and texts to analytics, working with knowledge bases and integrating bots into marketing teams. However, it is still too early to talk about a full-fledged human replacement. To understand the meanings, to be able to interpret the generated and create non-standard solutions, a talented operator is needed, for whom AI is not a threat, but only an additional tool.
In conclusion, the expert believes that the real estate market in 2025 is still volatile, but this volatility is perceived by most developers and investors as the new normal. This is not a boom period, but it is not a time of stagnation either. Vereshchagin singles out three main trends of this time: trust, speed and security. Investors’ trust in developers, which is formed thanks to open communication and compliance with obligations. The speed of project implementation and the speed of income. And, finally, security — both living conditions and a guarantee of investment security.
