Analysts summed up the housing market for the first quarter of 2024
In the first quarter of 2024, the number of transactions in the housing market in the Russian capital decreased. According to calculations based on the latest data from Rosreestr of Moscow, there are 12% fewer equity participation agreements compared to the same period in 2023. The number of purchase and sale transactions decreased by 9%, and the number of issued mortgage loans — by 5%.
Rosreestr registered from January to March 2024 inclusive 17.9 thousand agreements for participation in shared housing construction (in first quarter of 2023 — 20.4 thousand). In March, the number of transactions increased by 65% compared to February, to 7.8 thousand, but compared to March 2023, the decrease in demand was 17%.
Experts note that buyer interest remained only in the high price segment. “The economic recovery and the peculiar repatriation of capital from wealthy Russians are stimulating demand, including investment, for high-budget housing in Moscow,” comments Dmitry Golev, commercial director of Optima Development.
But the number of mortgage transactions decreased across all classes of housing. From January to March 2024, borrowers received 26.8 thousand loans from banks for the purchase of primary and secondary housing, which is 5% less than in 2023, when 28.3 thousand mortgage transactions were registered. The March indicator of borrower activity in 2024 fell by 4% by February, and by 19% by March last year.
In the finished housing market (apartments from private owners and new buildings from developers), Rosreestr recorded 30.2 thousand purchase and sale agreements, which is 9% less than in the first quarter of last year, when 33.1 thousand agreements were recorded. In March of this year, clients entered into almost 12 thousand agreements in Moscow, which is 12% more than in February, but 19% less than in March 2023.
— Market dynamics in the first quarter were quite predictable,” says Ruslan Syrtsov, managing director of Metrium. — Lending conditions have tightened — demand has fallen. At the same time, the share of loans issued under the family mortgage program has been growing since the beginning of the year. It will support market demand at a high level. Well, in the second half of the year we expect an easing of monetary policy (a reduction in the key rate — Ed.), which should lead to a decrease in the mortgage rate, and therefore to an increase in demand.