Realtor’s Day in Ukraine Date in the current year: October 9, 2024

A realtor, also known as a real estate agent or broker, is a person representing buyers or sellers of real estate. In the United States, only members of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) can be called realtors; the organization holds a United States trademark over the term to distinguish its members from other real agents and brokers. In Ukraine and many other post-Soviet states, however, the term “realtor” is synonymous with “real estate agent”.

There were no realtors in the Soviet Union because people were not allowed to own apartments – all apartments were either communal or cooperative property. It was impossible to sell or buy a communal apartment; cooperative apartments could be sold or bought, but there was no market for that. All deals involving real estate were made through state bureaus or under the table.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the beginning of transitioning to market economy, the first real estate firms and self-employed realtors began to emerge in most of the former Soviet republic, including Ukraine. The law of Ukraine “On Privatization of the State Housing Fund” entered into force on July 6, 1992, and the first real estate deals were concluded in August of the same year.

The first Ukrainian realtors were people who collected and systematized ads for sale of apartments and created databases of sellers, which they then sold to potential buyers. Over time, they began to act as intermediaries between sellers and buyers, working on behalf of buyers.

In modern Ukraine, a realtor is an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate, or, in other words, an agent working in the real estate market for a commission. Realtors can work for real estate agencies or offer their services as individual entrepreneurs. They are not required to obtain a license, but self-employed real estate agents must register as individual entrepreneurs and pay taxes.

However, the real estate market in modern Ukraine still lacks centralized regulation. There are no laws regulating the status of real estate agents in Ukraine (a draft law on real estate activity has been rejected several times due to imperfections and inconsistencies), no educational establishments that train real estate agents, and no state licensing board for realtors and real estate agencies.

Still, there are plenty of people working as real estate brokers in Ukraine. They have professional organizations and an unofficial professional holiday that they celebrate on October 9. It was established at the First All-Ukrainian Congress of Realtors that was held in 1999 and has been observed annually since its inception.

The main professional organization of Ukrainian realtors is the Association of Real Estate Professionals (Realtors) of Ukraine, founded in 1995. On the occasion of Realtor’s Day, the Association holds various professional and celebratory events for its members across the country.