Astana City Guide

Astana is Kazakhstan's purpose-built political capital and the fastest-growing major property market in the country. Designated capital in 1997 and extensively master-planned on the steppe, the city of roughly 1.6 million has expanded through government investment, corporate relocation, and rapid in-migration, absorbing more than 81,000 net internal migrants in the first eleven months of 2025 alone. Astana accounted for nearly a quarter of all newly commissioned housing nationwide in 2025, delivering some 4.8 million square metres of new stock. The anchor of its investment case is the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC), a special zone operating under English common law with tax incentives and an investor-visa pathway, clustered with the EXPO complex on the modern Left Bank (Yesil district). Average new-build prices sit near USD 1,130 per square metre with secondary stock around USD 1,210, materially below Almaty, yet Astana's secondary market grew about 12.9% in 2025 and transactions surged roughly 21.6%. Gross yields are high by global standards, supported by strong corporate-tenant demand, though buyers should weigh currency exposure and a young, supply-heavy market.