The effect of benefits: why the demand for suburban real estate is growing in Russia

From January to October 2021, the demand for the purchase of houses, summer cottages, cottages and townhouses in Russia increased by 6% compared to the same period in 2020.

The specialists of the Avito Real Estate service told RT about this.

“The average cost of suburban housing in the first ten months of this year was 1.7 million rubles.

This is 7% higher than last year's values.

The most expensive cottages on the market remained.

Their cost was on average around 7 million rubles, ”said Dmitry Alekseev, head of primary and suburban real estate at the company.

According to him, the interest of Russians in buying housing outside the city began to grow in 2020 against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of quarantine measures in the country.

In 2021, in addition to the restrictions persisting in a number of regions, an additional impact on demand was exerted by a noticeable rise in the price of apartments.

“We also see a positive effect from the spread of already existing mortgage lending programs for individual housing construction (individual housing construction. -

).

For example, the rural mortgage program has become very popular among Russians, ”added Alekseev.

Recall that the program has been operating since 2020 and provides for loans at a preferential rate of 0.1 to 3% per annum for those who want to buy ready-made or build new housing in rural areas.

The maximum loan amount depends on the region.

In the Leningrad Region, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District and the Far Eastern Federal District, it is 5 million rubles, and in other regions of the country - 3 million.

In addition, in April 2021, the government expanded the terms of the Family Mortgage program, and now, as part of the initiative, Russians can take out a loan at 6% per annum for the construction of a private house or purchase of a land plot.

Note that it is possible to get a loan at a reduced rate for parents with one child born after January 1, 2018 and before December 31, 2022.

The initial payment for the program is 15% of the cost of housing.

At the same time, the maximum loan amount also depends on the region - for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Moscow and Leningrad regions it is 12 million rubles, and for other subjects of the country - 6 million.

Moreover, in October 2021, the authorities announced the expansion of the preferential mortgage program for private houses.

As part of the initiative, the subsidized interest rate is up to 7% per annum, and the maximum loan amount is set uniform for all regions and should not exceed 3 million rubles.

As Dmitry Alekseev noted, a preferential mortgage allows the borrower to save up to 30% on monthly payments.

At the same time, according to the experts of the company "DOM.RF", the demand for this form of lending is steadily growing, which contributes to the development of the market for individual housing construction.

“Now the rates on preferential mortgage programs in Russian banks remain at the minimum levels and are even decreasing, despite the growth in rates in the mortgage market segment.

Against this background, the share of individual housing construction in the total number of loans issued is increasing.

In the first nine months of 2021, the top 20 banks issued 3.3 thousand loans for individual housing construction totaling 10 billion rubles, "Oleg Komlik, deputy managing director of DOM.RF for mortgage market development, told RT.

According to him, in the foreseeable future, it is also planned to transfer the escrow account system to the individual housing construction market.

As Komlik clarified, the corresponding bill is now under development and in the future will make it possible to secure the purchase of houses by citizens during the complex construction of facilities by developers.

Note that since July 2019, such a system has been used when buying apartments in new buildings.

Under the mechanism, developers can no longer raise money from equity holders directly.

Citizens place their funds for the purchase of housing on the 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.

It is assumed that the construction work itself is carried out by the performers at the expense of bank loans.

Demand due to remoteness

According to DOM.RF polls, today about 73% of Russians (more than 45 million families) would like to live in their own home.

At the same time, about 200 thousand families are already planning to build their own homes.

As the vice-president of the International Academy of Mortgage and Real Estate, Irina Radchenko, suggested in a conversation with RT, in the future, citizens' interest in purchasing suburban housing will continue to grow.

In part, this will be facilitated by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and the transformation of the labor market.

“The demand for suburban real estate, of course, is growing, because the Russians realized that it is better to hold lockdown outside the cities.

In the future, demand will grow both for the purchase and rent of such housing.

This is mainly due to the growth of vacancies at a distance, "- said Radchenko.

As hh.ru service specialists told RT earlier, over the past year in Russia the number of vacancies with the possibility of remote work has almost tripled.

In turn, according to analysts from Rabota.ru, 38% of companies have teleworkers, and 43% of employers believe that this type of employment can become an additional motivation for an employee.

“Employees can save on rental housing, which is cheaper outside the metropolis.

At the same time, they also do not spend several hours on the way to the office and can save this time for themselves, "Pavel Sigal, first vice president of the all-Russian public organization for small and medium-sized businesses" Support of Russia ", explained in an interview with RT.