Assessment of housing affordability in the Republic of Kazakhstan

Abstract

This paper presents an assessment of housing affordability in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The concept of "affordable housing" is considered from the perspective of various authors. The methodology for assessing housing affordability was adapted by the authors, taking into account Kazakhstan's building standards and average family size according to the Bureau of National Statistics. The results of the assessment of commercial housing availability in all regions of Kazakhstan are compared with the determined coefficients of housing affordability provided to the population under the state housing program according to average criteria. In addition, a housing affordability assessment was conducted for each type of state housing program in effect at the time of the study. The assessment takes into account all mechanisms and instruments for granting preferential loans for the purchase of an apartment to certain groups of the population in Kazakhstan: the duration of the loan, the amount of the down payment for obtaining a loan, the percentage of the monthly loan installment, the cost of living, the price per square meter of housing by region of the country, the annual family income before and after loan repayment, and other characteristics of each type of program separately. The objective of the study is to assess housing affordability in Kazakhstan and to classify housing affordability by housing market.