A significant share of housing in Kazakhstan is purchased through mortgage loans, since for many citizens it is the only way to acquire their own square meters. Nevertheless, property listings still contain phrases like "cash only" or "mortgage buyers please do not disturb." Sellers fear lengthy transaction processing and delays in receiving money, but, as the portal Krisha notes, many of these fears are based on outdated perceptions, reports infohub.kz.
One of the main misconceptions is that a mortgage transaction supposedly takes a lot of time. Buying an apartment with a mortgage does involve additional procedures: property appraisal, document verification, and bank approval. However, this does not mean the deal will necessarily drag on. On average, processing takes: apartment appraisal — 1–3 days; document verification and bank approval — 1–5 days; notarization and registration — 1 day.
Another reason for refusal is concern about the timing of receiving money. This is especially relevant for sellers who plan to immediately purchase another property. After ownership registration, the bank transfers the money to the seller. Under the rules, this may take up to 14 days, but usually the funds arrive within 2–3 days. The money is credited to a bank account. The transfer fee depends on the bank and the chosen payment method. In addition, notarization of a mortgage transaction is cheaper — only 4 monthly calculation indices (MCI), or 17,300 tenge in 2026. For a regular transaction without a mortgage, the rate is 12 MCI, or 51,900 tenge.
According to Imran Osmanov, head of the sales department at krisha.kz, mortgage transactions now account for about 30% of the market, and in Almaty and Astana — up to 50%. There is no point for a seller to turn away mortgage buyers. There are more of them, the transaction goes through bank verification, and the money is transferred by bank transfer — the risks of an illegal transaction or fraud are minimal.
Note that some sellers refuse mortgage buyers because they do not want to state the full value of the property in the contract. This may be related to a desire to reduce taxes when reselling the apartment. There are people who buy apartments and quickly resell them at a higher price. At the same time, they do not want to pay tax on the profit. But in a mortgage transaction, the bank verifies the apartment's value and documents, so understating the price will not work. However, for the buyer, understating the value in the contract also creates risks. In the event of a dispute, they will only be able to recover the amount officially stated in the documents.