Kazakhstanis have long believed that the more apartments a developer has sold, the safer it is to invest. However, in reality, what matters more is not the percentage of housing sold, but who exactly is building the project. This opinion was shared by journalist Igor Nevolin, as reported by infohub.kz.
According to him, the construction market in Kazakhstan is far from being a single building. A large construction company may simultaneously be building several residential complexes, as well as new phases of existing projects. Moreover, the sites can be at different stages of readiness.
"If all projects were at the same stage, it would be a nightmare. Everywhere would require roughly the same amount of money at the same time—and such money, as a rule, is never available in sufficient quantities. The developer needs money from buyers not on the day the building is ready. They need it much earlier," Nevolin noted.
The journalist gave an example: a construction company has projects A, B, C, D, and E. In project A, construction is going well, but completion is still far off. In project B, the building is almost finished. In project C, difficulties have suddenly arisen—with utilities, infrastructure, or new requirements. Meanwhile, apartments in all these buildings continue to be sold.
"For a business, it is perfectly natural to channel available funds to where they are most needed at the moment. If project B is almost ready, it is advantageous to finish and hand it over quickly. Money from sales of other projects is first and foremost directed there," he added.
Furthermore, money from sales of one residential complex helps continue construction of others. And this is not necessarily something illegal or suspicious. This is how working capital operates in almost any large business.
However, there are risks here. In theory, escrow accounts—special bank accounts where the buyer transfers money, and the developer can only access it after completing a certain amount of work—should mitigate these risks. In practice, however, in Kazakhstan this system often works much more leniently.
"Many buyers simply do not insist on complex schemes and separate accounts. They do not even think that their future apartment is just one element of a large financial machine, not a separate independent project," Nevolin concluded.