YEREVAN, October 28, /ARKA/. Accern Corporation president Hakob Baghdasarian said the government should be more courageous in implementing anti-crisis measures at real estate market.

In an interview with ARKA news agency he chided the government for being too cautious in carrying out real estate market related programs.

“I am not saying that cautiousness is not necessary. What I am saying is that at this stage the government should take some risk and when the economy is put back on recovery track and when application of stronger mechanisms will be possible, then it may show a bigger degree of cautiousness,’ he said.

The construction sector has been a focal point of government efforts to alleviate the consequences of the crisis. Last April, it approved 20 billion drams ($55 million) in loan guarantees to private developers struggling to complete their housing projects. Some of construction firms have reportedly received such guarantees since then.

According to Hakob Baghdasarian, market rules demand now risky actions, while regulation of the sector may be put off ‘for better times.’

The most important step, he said, is to regulate the mortgage market, because mortgage credits are accessible only to 1% of the population.

According to the State Real Estate Cadastre Committee, the number of houses sold in the first 6 months this year fall by 14.2% from a year before to 65,600 deals and by 20.6% against H2 of 2008.  -0-