In August 2020, the demand for the purchase of secondary housing in Russia increased by 52.3% compared to the same period in 2019.

Representatives of Avito Real Estate told RT about this.

“Moscow is the leader in terms of growth in consumer interest among megacities: in the capital, the indicator grew by 71.5% over the year.

The three leaders also included St. Petersburg (an increase of 56.5%) and Nizhny Novgorod (53.4%), ”the press service of the company said. 

According to realtors, two-room apartments are in greatest demand in the secondary housing market.

As the head of the CIAN analytical center, Alexei Popov, told RT, the share of "kopecks" accounts for almost 40% of the total volume of transactions.

35% of buyers prefer to purchase one-room apartments. 

"In general, the secondary market turned out to be more resistant to the crisis of 2020 compared to the segment of new buildings, the demand for which fell by 30% in the largest cities of Russia from January to August," Popov stressed.

The expert explains this situation by a sharp increase in the cost of new buildings.

According to him, in Moscow alone, housing under construction has risen in price by almost a third in three years, while prices on the secondary market added no more than 4-5% per year.

Analysts also explain the positive dynamics in the Russian secondary real estate market by the growing availability of housing loans.

According to the calculations of the DOM.RF company and the Frank RG agency, from January to August 2020, 895 thousand mortgage loans were issued in Russia in the amount of 2.2 trillion rubles.

Compared to the same period in 2019, the indicator increased by 26% in monetary terms. 

“In the first seven months of 2020, 525 thousand loans for 650 billion rubles were issued for the purchase of an apartment in the secondary market (an increase of 34%).

The positive result became possible due to the reduction in rates.

So, back in July 2019, the weighted average rate on loans issued in the secondary market reached 10.5% per annum, and in July of this year it fell below 8.2%, "said Mikhail, head of the DOM.RF analytical center, in an interview with RT. Goldberg. 

In addition, experts explain the high interest of Russians in buying ready-made apartments by the wide supply in the secondary market.

Citizens can find housing in any area of ​​the city with the necessary infrastructure for them, explained the vice president of the International Academy of Mortgage and Real Estate Irina Radchenko.

“Moreover, when buying a secondary housing, the risks are reduced that the developer might not deliver the project on time.

At the same time, buyers do not have to wait for a new house to be built and spend money on rental housing.

At the same time, the growth in demand is associated with a decrease in rates on bank deposits: customers increasingly prefer to transfer money to buy an apartment, rather than continue to keep funds on deposits, ”Radchenko said. 

It is noteworthy that during the summer, the Russian elite real estate market also saw an increase in demand for secondary housing.

As representatives of the Knight Frank agency told RT, after the abolition of the self-isolation regime, the volume of relevant transactions increased by 30-40%.

According to Andrey Solovyov, director of the city real estate department of the company, the observed trend is due to the fact that as a result of the pandemic, some developers have postponed the commissioning of their facilities.

Thus, buyers began to move to the secondary market in order to have time to invest in profitable projects.  

  • © Maxim Blinov

Note that the rush demand led to a slight rise in the cost of secondary housing in Russia.

According to Avito Real Estate, for the year the average cost per square meter in the country increased by 6.2% and amounted to 56.5 thousand rubles.

At the same time, in Moscow, the indicator increased by 5.3% (to 216.5 thousand rubles), and in St. Petersburg by 3.8% (to 126.8 thousand rubles), the CIAN calculated.

“After the abolition of quarantine, developers have raised prices for finished housing in large cities of Russia, and for some objects the cost per square meter has jumped by 20%.

They did this in an attempt to make money on the back of growing demand against the background of the Russians leaving the self-isolation regime, ”says Irina Radchenko.

At the same time, by the end of the year, the excitement will decrease somewhat due to the implementation of deferred demand, and prices for secondary housing may return to January indicators, Radchenko is sure.

According to her forecast, further dynamics will largely depend on changes in the level of income of citizens and the cost of mortgage loans.