How much they sell and who buys
«I'll buy an apartment in the Ilyichevsk district of Mariupol, it can be restored», «I'll buy a house in the suburbs of Mariupol within walking distance from the sea», «I'll buy» one «in the Levoberezhny district in any condition» — specialized groups for the sale of real estate in social networks are full of ads from Russians. Actively interested in real estate in the coastal zone and northerners, and residents of the capital. We talked to buyers and sellers.
The city is being restored. There is a complete «reboot». Photo: Marat Khusnullin's Telegtam channel
Igor, a resident of Donetsk, is selling a house of 75 square meters in the suburbs of Mariupol. He calls the village Mangush in the old fashioned way. (In March 2022, according to the decree of the head of the DPR, he was returned to the Soviet name Pershotravnevoye).
— From the village to Mariupol — about 14 kilometers, the city is very close, as we say — through two fields, — explains Igor. — Mangush was almost not injured during the hostilities. All houses are intact, one on the outskirts was destroyed, but it has already been restored. From the village you can go to work in Mariupol. I do not recommend buying a house or apartment in the city itself. It's noisy there, constant traffic, the port is working, the factories will soon be allowed to open. In the summer — hot, stuffy, in general — a «sack» (sack — bag, a bag of oats, worn on the muzzle of a horse. -).
Igor is from Donetsk, but at home he visits, works on shifts in Vorkuta. In the suburbs of Mariupol, he sells a house that belonged to his grandmother.
— The house is old, I immediately say that I will have to invest in repairs. I redid the roof in 2013, the house has a gas boiler, plastic windows, central sewerage. Garden — 12 acres, goes beyond the horizon, you are tormented to process. The earth will give birth well. There is water. I'll give it for 500 thousand rubles. Don't hesitate. Now Mariupol will be rebuilt, the price tag will soar.
The owner says that in Mangush you can eat from the market. There are villages all around, locals sell everything homemade, natural: milk, vegetables, fruits. True, much has now risen in price.
Having learned that I am calling from Moscow, Igor hurries to convince me that the situation in the village is favorable.
— The monument to the Cossack hetman Sagaidachny, which was erected in 2017, was demolished. The figure was sent to the museum. Now there is no longer a stone Celtic cross, which appeared in Mangush along with the national battalions in 2018. Residents now, without hiding, celebrate Victory Day — May 9.
Igor does not advise me to look at houses in the same Urzuf.
— There, of course, the cleanest sea — you can try real Greek chebureks. But the owners there have now lifted up the price tags «be healthy.» They sell mainly those who left during the hostilities for Ukraine, and then settled in Europe. Prices are set in dollars, and the dollar has now skyrocketed.
Igor also warns me against buying long Greek houses with low ceilings.
— They are 70-80 years old, if not today, tomorrow they will collapse .
— They call from St. Petersburg, from Moscow. Many northerners ask about the house. And there are calls from Mariupol residents who had their houses broken. They left for Rostov-on-Don. But they don’t want to stay there, they say that they want to go home. Buyers are interested in how safe is Mariupol now? In December, when I was on vacation, I went to the shabashka, we were building a fortified area. From Mariupol to the place where the fighting is going on, five hours by car. All is calm in the city itself. Cars with building materials go through the streets in a row. The city is one big building. And now they are building a road in Mangush.
I'm calling for ads. In Mariupol itself, the price tag is different. A gasified, insulated house in the Ilyichevsk district, along with household appliances and furniture, is being sold for 3 million rubles. By metropolitan standards, prices are quite affordable. For a «odnushka» in the same area, which is popularly called the «Pentagon», they ask for 22 thousand dollars (about 2 million rubles). A three-room house in the Primorsky District, which has been recently renovated and the wiring replaced, is being sold for $32,000 (about 2,885,000 rubles). In many ads there is a clarification: “house without damage”, “residential condition”.
I decide to contact the owner of the «treshka» in the Primorsky district, who put up a price tag of 30 thousand dollars (2,703,600 rubles).
— I will not give up the price! — a man who introduced himself as Vladimir answers me right off the bat. — The owners are in Lviv, they will not return to Mariupol, they do not want to live under the new government. My wife and I are their matchmaker and matchmaker. We have the whole package of documents, a power of attorney has been issued for me. The owners said: “Aliens will call — the price for them is final. No haggling.» The facade of the house was damaged during shelling, but the apartment miraculously survived, you can see the sea from the windows, you go out onto the balcony and you feel a light breeze.
everything is calm in the city itself.
The seller explains that the situation in Mariupol is now better than in Donetsk. The city is being restored. There is a complete «reboot». There are no problems with water now. The city is powered by a reserve reservoir. But there are communication failures. Transport runs, shops work. But the prices for everything are going through the roof.
— A liter of milk costs 80 rubles, a 200-gram pack of cottage cheese — 75, a dozen eggs — 90-100, a liter bottle of vegetable oil — 130, a package of pasta — 80, a chicken — 270 rubles per kilogram. Many have forgotten about beef, a kilogram costs about 600 rubles. Visitors say that our prices are Moscow. There is nothing cheap. And hard work. People are waiting for the launch of the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works. So far, qualified specialists have to work at construction sites as laborers, loaders, and security guards. Everyone wants to believe that this is temporary.
I'm calling on another ad, where it is proposed to buy a semi-basement open-plan building in the center of Mariupol for 2.5 million rubles. It is reported that all communications have been replaced. Further there is a postscript: full repair is required, there are «Russian documents». Next to the phone it says: Valentin.
“They just made an ad, two days later they bought the premises,” says Valentin. — We are expanding. It became cramped for us, so the premises were put up for sale.
Mariupol residents are jealous of the Donetsk people, who are now many in the city.
— There are a lot of visitors in Mariupol. New shops, pharmacies, eateries are actively opening. Many cafes are run by residents of Central Asia, which are visited mainly by builders.
Most of all, local residents complain about bureaucracy.
“To get some kind of certificate, you need to collect five more papers,” says Tatyana, a resident of Mariupol. — And with medicine it does not matter yet. A friend of mine suffers from diabetes mellitus, and for the second month she cannot get an appointment with an endocrinologist.
Tatiana says that before, fruits literally rained down on their heads. And now they are few.
— Many fruit trees were damaged during the shelling of the city. Ukrainian nationalists used banned mortar phosphorus shells. The leaves on the trees were then all in black dots. We are left with no harvest. Therefore, fruits in Mariupol are now expensive. They are brought mainly from Melitopol. And in the freezers we mostly have homemade lard. We are saved by them.
It was also interesting for me to talk with potential buyers, with those who are going to buy housing in Mariupol.
Olga from Omsk wrote in the ad that she wants to buy a plot on the shores of the Sea of Azov in the suburbs of Mariupol. I wonder why the choice fell on this area?
“I am from Siberia, where the Trans-Siberian Railway runs through the entire city, from west to east, and the Irtysh flows from south to north,” Olga shares with us. — Going to the sea is an adventure. And I always wanted to live on the coast. I am now looking at a plot of land in the Mariupol region for the future. I consider this a good investment. So far I haven't found the right one. I'm sure you should buy now. In five years, everything will be much more expensive.
— The land is important to me, what is on it does not matter. My husband and I will gradually build up. We want to meet old age on the seashore.
At the same time, as Olga says, many of her acquaintances express fears that it is still unsafe in Mariupol. The city is located not far from the zone where the hostilities are taking place.
— I am sure that the worst for Mariupol is behind us. It is well protected. Under the wing of Russia, in my opinion, the city has a great future. Now there is a land corridor to Crimea through Mariupol. There is a favorable climate, warm sea. I think that in the future the entire coast near Mariupol will become a popular holiday destination. Vacationers will come here.
Alexey from Murmansk is also eyeing real estate in Mariupol.
— Probably, this is a genetic memory, — says Alexei. — My grandparents were from Mariupol. But most of their lives they lived near the Barents Sea, worked in the port. Now I am drawn to the Sea of Azov. I have a year left before retirement. My wife wants us to settle in Yeysk, and I want Mariupol. The city is currently being rebuilt. The Sea of Azov became the inland sea of Russia. In 2-3 years, they are going to build a 1,400-kilometer transport ring around it. As you can see, the plans are grandiose. And so do we.
Another potential buyer is Eugene. He lives in Serpukhov, works on shifts in Novy Urengoy. In the ad, he indicated that he would buy a house with a plot for self-restoration on the coast, within five kilometers from Mariupol.
— My wife is from Mariupol, says Evgeny. — She left the city in her youth, she missed the warm sea all the time. Our children have already grown up, stood on their feet. There was finally free money. I work as a backhoe loader driver at a field in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The shift lasts two months, then a month — between shifts rest. I decided to look at real estate in the Mariupol area. Interest arose when Mariupol became a Russian city. In addition, I am an avid fisherman, and my wife buzzed my ears about local gobies, flounder, and sprat. While we are considering a house near the sea as a summer residence. And then, you see, we will move there to live permanently.