The Russian authorities need to take measures to stabilize prices in the real estate market.

This was announced on Thursday, January 21, by President Vladimir Putin at a meeting on economic issues.

“In some regions, there are imbalances in the housing market, real estate prices are growing significantly, there are not enough affordable options for apartments.

In this regard, I propose to discuss what needs to be done in order to level the price situation on the market, including by increasing the supply of housing, ”the head of state said.

According to him, in 2020, the launch of the preferential mortgage program gave Russians additional opportunities to buy new and high-quality housing.

As a result, almost 350 thousand families purchased apartments on the primary market.

Recall that in April 2020, Russians got the opportunity to get a mortgage loan at a preferential rate of 6.5% per annum.

Initially, the initiative was designed for six months, but the government extended its action until July 1, 2021.

Under the terms of the program, it is possible to get a loan at a reduced rate when purchasing apartments worth up to 12 million rubles in the Moscow and St. Petersburg agglomerations, as well as up to 6 million rubles in other regions of the country.

According to the analytical center "DOM.RF", within the framework of the program, banks have issued almost 346 thousand loans totaling more than 1 trillion rubles.

At the same time, the initiative also provided support to the construction industry during the pandemic.

“The preferential mortgage supported, of course, - as we planned, and it happened - the construction industry.

Since August last year, the volume of residential buildings commissioned has been growing, ”Vladimir Putin stressed.

At the same time, the issuance of concessional loans has become one of the main reasons for the rush of demand in the Russian housing market, which has led to a noticeable rise in price per square meter.

The vice-president of the International Academy of Mortgage and Real Estate Irina Radchenko told RT about this.

“Prices have grown by an average of 7-10% practically throughout Russia.

In Moscow, the growth was up to 15%, in Sochi - up to 30%.

Prices for suburban real estate also increased by almost 20%, both for rent and for purchase, ”said Radchenko.

As Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said earlier, it is necessary to curb the rise in prices in the real estate market precisely by increasing the supply of housing.

Thus, at the moment, the country needs to further increase the volume of construction.

“To keep the price from going up, you need to build more.

The more projects appear on the market, the greater the supply, the greater the choice, and then the price will not increase in the future.

Therefore, linking the balance of supply and demand is the task of the government, on which we are working now, "explained Khusnullin.

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As the vice-president of the Russian guild of realtors Konstantin Aprelev told RT, in order to increase the supply of housing, it is necessary to return a number of developers back to the market.

According to the expert, earlier many construction companies were forced to leave the industry due to strict administrative restrictions.

In addition, the expert considers it necessary to optimize the escrow account system.

As a reminder, since July 1, 2019, developers can no longer raise money from equity holders directly.

Citizens place their funds for the purchase of housing on so-called escrow accounts.

We are talking about a special bank account for the safe conduct of transactions between companies and the public.

The money for the purchase of real estate is kept in the bank until the developer fully fulfills his obligations.

For example, a construction company will be able to receive funds from equity holders only after the housing is put into operation.

The construction work itself will be carried out by the performers at the expense of bank loans.

Labor revitalization

At the meeting on Thursday, Vladimir Putin also drew particular attention of the meeting participants to the employment situation.

According to him, a decrease in unemployment has been outlined in the labor market in recent months.

“I would like to note that during the tense period of the epidemic, we managed to prevent its (unemployment -

RT

) sharp surge.

This was done, among other things, thanks to measures to support the economy, enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses, both at the federal and regional levels, at the local level, ”Putin said.

According to Rosstat, in 2020, against the background of the introduction of quarantine measures in the spring and the temporary suspension of the work of a number of companies, unemployment in the country from March to August increased from 4.7 to 6.4%.

The value was the highest since 2012.

However, by the end of November, the figure dropped to 6.1%.

“Of course, it is necessary to maintain and strengthen the trend towards an increase in employment in the Russian economy.

By the end of this year, it is necessary to achieve a complete recovery of the labor market.

Such a task, as you know, has been set before the government, and it must be fulfilled, ”Putin stressed.

Additional measures of financial assistance to businesses and the self-employed can accelerate the revival of the labor market in Russia.

This point of view in a conversation with RT was expressed by Nikita Maslennikov, head of the "Finance and Economics" direction of the Institute of Contemporary Development.

According to him, the key factor in reducing unemployment should be the growth of investments.

“Although at the moment the forecasts still sound different, there is reason to believe that by the beginning of 2022 we are likely to reach the pre-crisis level of unemployment.

Great hopes are now pinned on the revival of investment activity, because new investments mean new jobs, ”Maslennikov explained.

Moreover, the regulatory measures of the authorities to curb inflation and reduce the number of inspections of businesses can also support the employment sector.

Georgy Ostapkovich, Director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Studies and Economics of Knowledge of the Higher School of Economics, told RT about this.

As the expert noted, an additional factor in reducing unemployment may be prompt vaccination against coronavirus.

“Much depends on the epidemiological situation: will there be more waves of growth in the incidence.

The main thing is the psychological factor, that is, the vaccination of people.

If we can vaccinate 60-70% of the population, labor productivity and the number of employees will increase, ”the expert concluded.