Since the beginning of the year, the number of transactions in the primary housing market in Moscow has fallen by 34%, in the Moscow region – by 38%, in St. Petersburg – by 4%, in the Leningrad region – by 29%, said Alexander Andrianov, First Vice President of GloraX.
Over the year, compared to January 2022, this figure decreased by 23% in Moscow, in St. Petersburg – by 29%, in the Leningrad and Moscow regions – by 24% and 41%, respectively, the developer added.
According to the federal company “Etazhi”, activity in the primary market in Russia at the beginning of the year decreased by 34% compared to December last year, and in the secondary market – by 42%.
A representative of one of the largest development companies in the Russian Federation has similar data: the demand for new buildings in January 2023 fell by 32% compared to December 2022, and by 60% compared to January last year. And according to Avito Real Estate, in January-February 2023, 35.9% fewer citizens were interested in apartments in new buildings than a year ago, and 10% in secondary housing.
“Indeed, now we are seeing a decrease in buying activity, this is a fairly objective situation. After record sales volumes in 2021-early 2022, a decline followed, and sales today are 20–30% lower,” said Igor Sibrenkov, Commercial Director of Osnova Group.
In addition, mortgage rates are also increasing – both basic and subsidized programs, which does not contribute to sales growth, the developer added. Thus, since January 1, this indicator for preferential mortgages for new buildings has increased from 7% to 8%. The program was launched in the spring of 2020 as an anti-crisis measure – initially such loans were issued at 6.5% per annum.
Demand for new buildings has fallen to about 30% since the beginning of the year, including due to an increase in rates on near-zero mortgages that developers provide jointly with banks, Anna Terekhova, head of the sales department at the Marmax development company, said.
