Buyers have become more cautious, and investment decisions are being made at a slower pace. At the same time, the rapid increase in construction land prices is prompting more and more buyers to expand their search to areas farther away from the center of Chisinau.
In central areas and locations with high potential for residential development, the price of one are of land can exceed €100,000. This significantly reduces affordability for buyers who intend to build a home for their own use and pushes them to look for alternatives in the suburbs and in localities located farther from the municipality.
Thus, the land market is facing a paradox: demand is becoming more cautious, while prices remain high, supported by limited supply and the increasingly high value of well-located plots with development potential.
To properly understand the current situation, we also need to look at the period before the pandemic. Until 2020, around 2,230 land plots were sold annually in Chisinau and its suburbs, while land investment represented a smaller segment of the market. There was not the same level of interest we see today, and land was mainly purchased by people who already had a clear construction purpose, as well as by investors and developers.
The pandemic, however, changed people's behavior. The desire for more space, a private yard and greater privacy, combined with rising apartment prices, made the “land + house” option increasingly attractive to more families.
As a result, the land market experienced accelerated growth after the pandemic. The annual average over the past five years reached approximately 5,447 transactions, more than twice the approximately 2,230 transactions recorded annually before the pandemic.
This comparison is important. Although 4,568 transactions were recorded in 2025, 16.2% below the five-year average, this volume is still more than twice the pre-pandemic level. Therefore, the market is not returning to its previous size, but is rather going through a period of adjustment after several years of very rapid growth.
In the first half of 2026, 1,659 purchase and sale transactions involving construction land were registered in Chisinau and its suburbs, compared with 2,396 transactions during the same period in 2025. The difference of 737 transactions represents a decrease of approximately 30.8%.
For comparison, apartment transactions declined by approximately 27% during the same period, indicating that the decrease in activity is not specific to land, but is part of a broader slowdown in the real estate market.
Quarterly data shows a slowdown in construction land purchase and sale transactions in Chisinau and its suburbs:
The continued increase in prices and the increasingly limited supply of good-quality land are forcing buyers to expand their search radius beyond areas close to Chisinau. As a result, interest is gradually shifting from suburbs such as Codru, Durlești, Ialoveni, Stăuceni, Băcioi, Trușeni and Bubuieci toward localities located farther from the municipality, such as Suruceni, Cojușna, Budești, Mileștii Mici, Chetrosu, etc.
See land for sale in Chisinau and the surrounding suburbs.
At present, construction land with access to utilities and priced at up to €50,000 is among the most sought-after. Buyers are increasingly willing to accept a greater distance from the city in exchange for a more affordable price and a larger plot.
An interesting indicator is the evolution of transactions carried out through credit financing. In the first half of 2025, 748 land transactions financed through credit were recorded, compared with 669 such transactions in the first half of 2026.
Thus, credit-financed transactions decreased by approximately 10.6%, significantly less than the overall transaction volume, which declined by 30.8%.
The 669 credit-financed transactions accounted for approximately 40.3% of the total 1,659 transactions recorded in the first half of 2026. In practice, around four out of ten land plots are purchased with the help of bank financing.
This shows that, although the market has become more cautious, credit financing continues to be an important mechanism. If financing conditions improve in the coming period, some of the buyers who are currently postponing their decisions could return to the market.
If there is one factor that could fundamentally change the land market in Chisinau and its suburbs, it is infrastructure. The localities surrounding the capital have developed rapidly, but in many areas, utility networks and roads have not kept pace with residential development.
Issues related to water supply, sewage, gas, electricity, public lighting, roads and access routes directly influence purchasing decisions. A plot of land may have an attractive price, but if the owner subsequently has to invest significant amounts to connect it to utilities and improve access, the overall cost of the project increases considerably.
Therefore, infrastructure development should be viewed as a direct investment in the development of the residential market. A plot with all utilities available and good road access is a much more attractive product than a similar plot in terms of size but without adequate infrastructure.
Equally important is the connection between the suburbs and Chisinau. For a family, it is not only the price of the land that matters, but also how much time the daily commute to work, school or other services will take. From this perspective, improving roads, public transportation and developing an efficient ring road around Chisinau could have a major impact on the development of the metropolitan area.
The land and apartment markets should be analyzed together. For many families, choosing a home means deciding between buying an apartment in Chisinau and building a house in the suburbs.
If a family can purchase a 400–600 m² plot with water, sewage, gas, electricity, good road access and a quick connection to Chisinau, building a house may become more attractive than buying a very expensive apartment in the city.
This alternative could have positive effects on the entire market. If some buyers shift from apartments to houses, pressure on apartment demand in Chisinau could decrease. This does not automatically mean lower prices, but it could contribute to slowing the pace of price growth and creating a healthier balance between supply and demand.
In this context, suburban development should not be viewed only as an opportunity for the land market, but also as a solution to the housing challenge facing Chisinau.
Despite the current decline, there are several reasons for moderate optimism. Today's land market is significantly larger and more mature than it was before the pandemic: from approximately 2,230 transactions annually, it has grown to an average of 5,447 transactions over the past five years.
In addition, land remains a limited resource, and well-located plots with access to infrastructure and development potential will continue to be attractive. Demand for housing remains, and for many families, building a house represents a real alternative to buying an apartment.
The 669 credit-financed transactions recorded in the first half of 2026, representing approximately 40% of the total, also show that financing mechanisms are available to support the market when economic conditions become more favorable.
Therefore, the current period can be viewed more as a stage of adjustment and normalization rather than as a structural problem for the land market.
The construction land market in Chisinau and its suburbs is experiencing a slowdown in 2026: during the first half of the year, the number of transactions declined by 30.8%. However, the fact that approximately 40% of purchases are financed through credit indicates that interest in this segment remains strong.
The current decline can be viewed more as a normalization following the accelerated growth of recent years rather than as a loss of interest in land. In the long term, infrastructure development - roads, utilities and better connections with Chisinau - will play a crucial role in expanding the market toward the suburbs and surrounding localities.
If infrastructure keeps pace with residential development, construction land could become one of the main drivers of the expansion of Chisinau's metropolitan area.
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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