The highest-budget segment of the capital’s housing entered the growth zone. Sales again began to be measured in dozens of lots per month, and in the last quarter, eight apartments out of the “golden hundred” of the most expensive offers of the city were sold at once
Traditionally, it is believed that the market of the most expensive Moscow real estate lives its life, sluggishly reacting to external stimuli, whether it is an increase or decrease in mortgage interest rates, a general market flow of demand from the primary market to the secondary and back, and so on. But even if the segment is separate from everyone else, it still sums up the interim results of its work. Here are the indicators with which he approached the beginning of spring 2024.
According to experts of the Urban Awards*, the capital’s elite class finally managed to overcome the consequences of the February shock of 2022, and this can be considered one of the main results of last season: sales increased by one and a half times. “The collected statistics give grounds to assert that the high-budget housing market has emerged from the depression, which lasted for almost a year and a half — from April 2022 to August 2023. During this period, there was not a single month when the number of sold objects reached at least 20 units, only twice (in September 2022 and in May 2023) 15+ transactions were registered. In nine cases out of 17, less than ten apartments and apartments were sold. Only at the end of last year, the turnover of the construction industry began to be measured again by several dozen lots. So, in September, the luxury real estate fund decreased by 50 units, in November — by 42, in December — by 32,” analysts note.
The trend that emerged towards the end of 2023 found a continuation in early 2024. In particular, according to the observations of Urban Awards*, in January alone (that is, in fact, in three working weeks of the month) 16 apartments and apartments with a check of 200 million rubles were sold. For comparison, in 2019, 11 months were not enough to reach this figure, the 16th transaction was registered only in December. Since then, ten-digit price tags have appeared in sales statistics, and in the “200+ million” category, the bill for sold lots has already gone to hundreds.
As calculated by Intermark Urban Real Estate*, the cost of the 100 most expensive apartments in Moscow (Prime Central Moscow Top-100 Index) increased by 44 billion rubles over the year and amounted to 134 billion rubles at the beginning of January. In just six months, the average cost per square meter increased by 31%, reaching 4.4 million rubles. At the same time, demand shows high activity: in the last quarter, eight ultra-premium apartments were sold (in the Yakimanka and Tsvetnoy Boulevard areas) with a total cost of about 1.8 billion rubles, analysts share their conclusions.
“In recent months, we have witnessed the growing interest of buyers in purchasing real estate in the “heavy luxury” segment. This is partly due to the fact that many large businesses have successfully overcome economic shocks and sanctions, which allows their owners to enter the market of expensive assets. The demand is also facilitated by the fact that many foreign markets, where ultrahainets often used to rush, are now closed to Russians, which is why many focus their attention on Russian real estate, and the Moscow market is the most attractive from the point of view of the most prestigious and expensive objects,” explains the CEO and managing partner of Intermark Urban real estate” Dmitry Khalin.
The main offer in the top hundred most expensive lots in Moscow is concentrated on the primary market (81%), the share of the secondary market has increased by 3% over the year and now stands at 19%. The average budget for the offer of an apartment included in the Prime Central Moscow Top-100 Index is 1.34 billion rubles — compared to the previous index, the figure has increased by 48%, and the most expensive purchase will now cost 7.5 billion rubles.
By the way, according to Rariteco* experts, from the excavation stage to the end of construction, Moscow’s elite and deluxe class new buildings are becoming more expensive by an average of 2.8% per quarter. This conclusion is confirmed by the price analysis of both projects that went on sale in 2018-2019 and have now been practically sold out, and complexes that began to be built in 2021 and are still being sold out today.
Naturally, investors who expect to invest at the initial stage and receive a 65% increase in interest during the period of active sales (usually four to five years) should soberly and comprehensively assess whether the object they have chosen is capable of showing such dynamics. “It is better for an investor to pay attention to those areas where there are few new projects. In the market of new buildings of the elite and deluxe segments, a lot depends on the location, and often potential buyers are literally waiting for a new project to appear in their favorite area of Moscow: some prefer the dynamic Tverskoy district and Arbat, others like low-rise, authentic and quiet Yakimanka and Zamoskvorechye, others – Khamovniki. Therefore, the chances are high that the project will “shoot” primarily where there have been no elite new buildings for a long time or there are few of them,” advises Ekaterina Borisova, Director of development at Rariteco.
Prime Central Moscow Top-100 Index indicates that at the beginning of 2024, the most ultra-premium apartments are represented on Ostozhenka (33 lots), Yakimanka is in second place (20 lots), Tverskoy district closes the top three (11 lots). But the data from Whitewill* says that today the most expensive street in the capital from the point of view of the primary residential market is Obydensky Lane and the adjacent Soymonovsky passage, where the average price per square meter is 3 million rubles. Prechistenskaya Embankment is the leader in the secondary market with an indicator of 2.7 million rubles per square meter.
business fm on telegram
Hungarian PM urges EU to come to its senses
The Central Bank kept the key rate at 16% per annum
Crocus City Hall. Chronicle of events
America does not consider Russia the main enemy. Comment by Georgy Bovt
DneproGES stopped work after fire and damage
Peskov: Russia is at war
In general, according to experts of the Urban Awards, in 2023, three hotbeds of consumer activity stood out in the super-expensive Moscow housing market: Khamovniki, where every second object was bought (97 lots), Tverskoy district (45 lots) and Yakimanka (22 lots). The total share of other central locations in the demand structure was limited to 21%.
At the same time, after analyzing the platform data bnMAP.pro The experts of the BEST-Novostroy company* have compiled their list of areas that are most in demand now among buyers of high-budget real estate. Two of them, Khamovniki and Presnensky, have been occupying the top positions in the ranking of the most popular locations for several years. The other two, Tagansky and Dorogomilovo, did not arouse much interest until recently, but today they are rapidly gaining popularity.
English 
Russian 
German 
Polish