"By autumn 2008, I am sure, the process of uniting will complete. [The new organization] is likely to be called the all Ukrainian Association of Real Estate Specialists of Ukraine," he said.

President of the Union of Real Estate Specialists of Ukraine Oleksandr Rubanov said the main purpose of the two organizations was to work according to unified standards and unified norms for realtors.

He added, the Union of Real Estate Specialists of Kyiv would continue to function as a regional organization.

The Association of Real Estate Specialists of Ukraine has been working since 1995.

The all-Ukrainian public organization the Union of Real Estate Specialists of Ukraine was created in the summer 2007 on the basis of the Union of Real Estate Specialists of Kyiv, which was created in 1995.

The committee said that the construction of buildings fell by 1.6%, and the preparation of sites went down by 3.8%, the shares of which in the overall national amount of construction work were 85.2% and 3.8% respectively.

The installing of engineering equipment for buildings grew by 3.5%, and the completion of construction soared by 17.4%.

As the committee said, construction, reconstruction and retooling services accounted for 85% of the overall national amount of construction work, while the share of major overhauls was 10.4%, and that of maintenance repairs 4.6%.

Almost one third of the construction work was done by Kyiv companies, and one tenth – by Donetsk-based companies.

Companies in 15 regions cut the state volume of construction works.

As reported, the volume of construction and maintenance work done in 2007 grew by 15.8% compared to 2006, to UAH 53.5 billion.

The company said that the average value of a house in Kyiv region over the period was $425,998.

The growth in the cottage prices was observed in all districts. The maximum rise in the price of one square meter was registered in Borodianka District at 1.36%, where the average price of one square meter was $1,199.

The company said that the maximum price of houses was registered in the Obukhiv District at $2,044, while the minimum price – in Makarove District at $1,103.

The company said that the average price of one square meter in Kyiv for housing over the period did not change and was $2,181 per square meter. The average price of a cottage was $557,896.

SV Development said that the largest share of houses for sale over the period under review was seen in the Kyiv-Svyatoshyne District - 37% of the total supply, the lowest in the Makarove District - 2%.

SV Development has been operating on the Ukrainian market since 2005.

"I think the growth in prices for secondary housing will be a minimum of 1.5% a month by late 2008. This means that over the year it will grow in value by 20%, and in some districts by 25%," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

According to Bondarenko, in spite of the fact that currently, the housing market is in a stagnation phase, prices are gradually growing, in particular, due to the dollarization of the market.

The expert also said the increase in prices for secondary housing in Kyiv was caused by "the close link between the primary and secondary markets".

"Prices are still growing on the primary market due to growing prices for construction materials, [and] that influences the price of one square meter, and as the primary and secondary markets are connecting vessels, then the prices become even. We should also remember that we buy already completed housing on the secondary market, and it costs more than that on the primary market," Bondarenko said.

The analysts of the company noted the absence of an explicit tendency for a rise or fall in the price of secondary housing, which may indicate some stability on the market.

According to Kanzas, last week the price expectation index fell and was minus 0.2%.

The price expectation index reflects the tempo of price changes on the real estate market. The index can be used to estimate the tempo of price growth in the short term and serve as an instrument of investment assessment. If the index drops to zero, it indicates a stabilization of the market, and if it is minus, it indicates possible price falls.

The Kanzas company calculates real estate indexes in various cities of Ukraine. Its main information partner in Sevastopol is the Multydom real estate agency.

"The scenario of falling prices on the primary housing market is unlikely for the next twelve months due to a number of macro-economic factors. Looking at housing in segments, one can definitely say that the prices of elite real estate will grow more confidently as, firstly, demand for it is stably high, and secondly, the price of these objects is only weakly subject to the influence of the various macro-economic factors," she said.

Leonets said that at present, only elite housing can provide the highest profitability for investment.

"The prices of economy and business class housing could suffer from slight price surges, but on the whole, they will remain stable," the expert said.

She said that by the end of the year, there would be no serious changes on the primary housing market.

"By the end of the summer, constructors will retain the present level of prices; however, I don’t rule out that various promotions and discounts could cut the average price of housing by 1-2%. In the fall, when demand traditionally increases again, and if the dollar gets stronger, the prices will return to the previous level," she said.

Leonets said that a fall in prices in the low-quality secondary market segment could be seen.

"However, taking into account the fact that the secondary housing in Ukraine is considered a less risky alternative to the primary market, if there were a fall in supply on the primary market, one should not expect a significant fall in prices on the secondary market," she said.

She said that one trend for housing market development could be a considerable fall in rent rates.

Tiko Construction, part of Tiko group, was established in 1998. Its core business is the development of trading, office, hotel, warehouse and residential real estate.

The company's portfolio of realized projects includes six B and B+ class business centers in Kyiv with a total area of more than 30,000 square meters. It also includes the five-star Opera hotel, which has a total area of 12,000 square meters.

The average price of a flat on the secondary market in January-May grew by 11.5%.

The average price of one square meter of primary housing over the five months in one-room flats rose by 11.54%, in two-room flats by 7.37%, and in three-room flats by 7.57%.

The average price of one square meter of secondary housing in one-room flats grew by 11.23%, in two-room flats by 12.93%, and in three-room flats by 7.51%.

The average price of a one-room flat on the secondary market for the period under review increased by 11.73%, a two-room flat by 14.18%, and a three-room flat by 8.58%.

The average rent rates for housing in Kyiv for the period grew by 3.59%. The rent of one-room flats grew by 4.48%, two-room flats by 2.44%, and three-room flats by 3.86%.

According to earlier reports, referring to the www.realt.kiev.ua portal data, the prices of housing in Kyiv in 2007 grew on average by 19.6%. In particular, the average price of one square meter of housing on the primary market in Kyiv for the period grew by 28.7%, and on the secondary market by 14.65%, while the average price of a flat on the secondary market rose by 15.55%.

The average rent rates for housing in Kyiv in 2007 grew by 50.64%.

The data for analysis are taken from open sources, the Interfax-Ukraine agency is not responsible for their reliability.

According to an analysis of data taken from www.realt.kiev.ua, the average price per square meter of Kyiv housing on the primary market over the period under review rose by 0.21% and that on the secondary market climbed by 0.26%. The average ask price per flat on the secondary market grew by 0.71%.

The average cost of one square meter in a one-room flat on Kyiv's primary market increased by 0.4%, in a two-room flat by 0.25%, while the average cost of one square meter in a three-room flat declined by 0.02%.

The average cost of one square meter in a one-room flat on Kyiv's secondary market rose by 0.55%, in a three-room flat by 0.37% while that in a two-room flat dropped by 0.14%.

The average ask price per one-room flat on the secondary market increased by 0.68%, that per two-room flat by 0.03% and per three-room flat by 1.42%.

The average rent rates for Kyiv housing over the period under review rose by 1.77%. The rent rate per one-room flat grew by 1.31%, that per two-room flat by 1.69% and per three-room flat by 2.3%.

The data for the analysis were taken from open sources. Interfax-Ukraine News Agency is not responsible for the accuracy of the information.

The project documentation for two trade centers in Mykolaiv and Odesa is under development, and construction is to start in September and October 2008 respectively," reads a company report.

The company said that a trade center of 16,000 square meters in Kremenchuk, the building of which was started in November 2007, would be commissioned in December 2008.

"A land plot in Luhansk was taken under guarantees, and another one in western Ukraine is under comprehensive legal assessment," reads the report.

Its first trade center of 11,000 square meters in Lutsk was opened in December 2007.

According to the report, at present, DUPD is drawing up blueprints for the construction of a trade center on 1.2 hectares at Komarova Street in Kyiv. The company said that Colliers International consulting company has signed the first deal on leasing 5,000 square meters of trading space in the trade center with the hypermarket chain, the name of which is not disclosed.

As reported, Landzone Ltd, a daughter company of DUPD, has entered into a shareholders' agreement with Bartin Management Corp., under which it will acquire a 50.01% stake in Hindale Executive Investments Limited, a company formed to develop a shopping center on a 1.2 hectare land plot on Komarova Street in Kyiv.

DUPD in July 2007 bought a 38% share of the statutory fund of Henryland Group Limited (British Virgin Islands) for $12 million, which plans to build six modern retail trade centers in various regions of Ukraine. The agreement was signed with Henryland, Dragon Capital Holding Limited (DCH – an associated company of DCP), Concentra Limited and Sakaropel Limited.

DUPD, which was created in February 2007, in late May and early June conducted an IPO on the AIM of the LSE. A total of 104 million ordinary shares were placed with institutional investors at a price of $2.00 (the Offer Price) per ordinary share. Renaissance Capital, Morgan Stanley fund and Spinnaker Capital Ltd. took part in the IPO.

The purchase of Henryland is DUPD's first investment.

He said that the ministry is finalizing a plan for the reform of the sector, which foresees such involvement.

"Hundred of billion of hryvnias is needed to upgrade the municipal sphere. Of course, no budget would be enough to improve the state of the sector. Private investment is needed – for every UAH 1 from the state – UAH 5-8 from private investors. We're working on this," he said.

The official said that the attraction of investment in the reform of the sector would be possible if profits from tariffs could be earned.

"Tariffs should become a market category, including an investment constituent," he said.

Kucherenko said that the leasing as a way of attracting investment is the worse form of private-state partnership, and advised to prefer concessions to local authorities. The government has drawn up a relevant draft law.

There are round 230,000 apartment blocks in Ukraine. Each one requires around UAH 1.5 million for upgrading work.