At the same time, the number of people with incomes exceeding one million Moldovan lei has increased significantly, raising an interesting question: how much capital is actually accumulated in the economy, and how much can it influence the Chișinău real estate market?
According to data from the State Tax Service, in 2025, 9,643 people declared incomes exceeding one million lei - 1,624 more than in the previous year. The total income declared by this category reached MDL 32.8 billion. But what does this amount mean when compared with current housing prices? And, more importantly, how many apartments could theoretically be purchased with the money left after taxes are paid?
Of the MDL 32.8 billion declared by people with incomes exceeding one million lei, approximately MDL 2.3 billion represented calculated income tax. This leaves approximately MDL 30.5 billion after taxation.
For simplicity, we will use an assumed exchange rate of MDL 20 per euro. At this rate, MDL 30.5 billion is equivalent to approximately EUR 1.525 billion.
This is a difficult amount to visualize in ordinary terms. Therefore, it is useful to compare it with something very concrete for the real estate market - the price of an apartment.
According to the Acces Imobil Real Estate Index, the average apartment price in Chișinău is around EUR 1,720/m². The index is calculated based on an analysis of several segments of the residential market and includes both new-build and secondary-market apartments in different states of completion.
If we take an apartment of 60 m² as an example, its value at an average price of EUR 1,720/m² would be: 60 m² × EUR 1,720 = EUR 103,200.
We can now make a simple calculation: EUR 1,525,000,000 ÷ EUR 103,200 = approximately 14,776 apartments.
In other words, the net income declared in a single year by people earning more than one million lei would, purely mathematically, represent enough purchasing power to buy approximately 14,800 apartments of 60 m² at the current average price in Chișinău.
Of course, this is only a statistical exercise. Nobody is suggesting that these individuals actually purchased 14,800 apartments. Their income is used for consumption, savings, business development, investments, other properties and many other purposes.
However, the comparison helps illustrate how much capital is concentrated within a relatively small group of taxpayers.
Comparing this amount with the actual volume of the Chișinău real estate market makes the figure even more interesting. According to revised data from the Public Institution Cadastre, in 2025, 14,342 commissioned apartments were sold in Chișinău municipality and its suburbs.
In our calculation, the MDL 30.5 billion remaining after taxation, equivalent to approximately EUR 1.525 billion, would be sufficient to purchase around 14,776 apartments of 60 m² at the average market price.
In other words, the theoretical purchasing power represented by the net income declared in a single year by people earning more than one million lei is almost equal to the total number of apartments sold in Chișinău and its suburbs throughout 2025.
The difference between the two figures is only 434 apartments, meaning that the hypothetical amount could cover approximately 103% of the number of transactions recorded in 2025.
Of course, this calculation does not mean that Moldova's 9,643 millionaires purchased or will purchase such a number of homes. It is a statistical comparison intended to illustrate the scale of purchasing power concentrated within a relatively small segment of the population and to provide a different perspective on the amount of capital that may stand behind demand in the real estate market.
The 9,643 people with incomes exceeding one million lei should not automatically be considered real estate investors, as their income may come from dividends, business activities, salaries, rental income, asset sales or other sources, while their accumulated capital may be directed toward real estate, businesses, financial instruments or savings.
Nevertheless, the evolution of this group is interesting when viewed alongside the real estate market. In 2023, there were approximately 6,400 people with incomes exceeding one million lei; in 2024, more than 8,000; and in 2025, the number reached 9,643, representing an increase of approximately 50.7% over two years. During the same period, according to the Acces Imobil Real Estate Index, the average apartment price in Chișinău increased from EUR 1,070/m² in 2023 to EUR 1,720/m² in 2025, an increase of approximately 60.7%.
Although the growth rates in the number of millionaires (+50.7%) and average apartment prices (+60.7%) are relatively close, this does not mean that there is a direct causal relationship between the two developments.
Housing prices are simultaneously influenced by construction costs, inflation, income growth, mortgage lending, limited supply, land costs, diaspora investment and internal migration. At the same time, an increase in the amount of capital available in the economy can itself contribute to sustaining or increasing demand in the real estate market.
The growing number of people with incomes exceeding one million lei shows that an increasing amount of capital is being accumulated in the Republic of Moldova, and part of this capital may also flow into the real estate market.
We cannot say that millionaires are the cause of rising apartment prices, but their purchasing power is a factor that should be considered alongside the relationship between supply and demand, diaspora investment, and the migration of human and financial capital from the country's districts toward Chișinău and its suburbs.
In a market with limited supply, where increasing amounts of financial resources and people are becoming concentrated around the capital, available capital matters just as much as the number of buyers.
Note: All calculations regarding the number of apartments that could theoretically be purchased are hypothetical and intended for illustrative purposes only. The calculation assumes that all income remaining after taxation would be used to purchase 60 m² apartments at an average price of EUR 1,720/m². In reality, this does not reflect the actual consumption or investment behavior of these individuals.
Author: Victor Cernomorcenco
Realization of the analysis by Victor Cernomorcenco, specialist in real estate in Chisinau and representative of Acces Imobil.
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