Photo: Mikhail Sinitsyn/TASS
The State Duma has finally recognized that housing prices have increased exorbitantly and unreasonably. At the same time, the deputies cannot understand why this is happening.
The rise in price of living space by only 27% is associated with the cost of building materials, the remaining 73% is the income of developers, land and advertising, according to Deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Economic Policy Artyom Kiryanov.
“At one time, such a thought dominated: manufacturers of building materials are to blame for the increase in the cost of housing — starting from cement and concrete, ending with metal structures. This story is becoming more expensive without motivation, which we are talking about today with the same Antimonopoly Service, with relevant departments. In a difficult time for the economy, not everyone should have super profits,” Kiryanov concluded.
Apartments are indeed becoming more and more inaccessible. Although it depends for whom…
— There is a category of people who do not know where to put money. Someone is huddled in a rented one-bedroom apartment, and 2% of the population has 5-6 apartments. There was such a case: as a realtor, I designed 15 apartments with one person. He, a major official, paid for them, but housing was issued for different surnames — relatives, a secretary, a driver… It’s called simply: money legalization, investment in real estate,” Yulia Bituse, General Director of the real estate agency, told SP.
“SP”: What exactly affects the growth of housing costs?
— Today, lending rates are extremely unprofitable, prices are unaffordable, and loan overpayment has reached record heights. Therefore, potential buyers from among the newcomers are increasingly choosing to rent. But the main factor is that workers have become more expensive. First of all, this is due to the mass departure of migrants from Of Russia. Previously, they built houses literally for pennies, now builders are paid, as far as I know, up to 80 thousand rubles a month, and this leads to an increase in the cost of square meters.
The second important factor is the increase in the mortgage rate. According to unofficial data, inflation has now reached 17%. The loan rate reaches 23%, the initial payment is 20% of the cost of the apartment. Who can afford it?
Did the “joint venture” sanctions have any effect on the cost of apartments?
— Absolutely. Building materials have become more expensive. And here you should not build illusions that everything is produced in Of Russia. That’s not so. Suppose we have our own forest, but the dyes are Italian or Finnish. Now they have either disappeared or they are being overbought at exorbitant prices. Developers complain that there are not enough spare parts, and large housing complexes cannot be built without Western technologies.
“SP”: But there is a preferential mortgage for IT specialists with many children. Are we exaggerating?
— There aren’t really that many IT specialists. Beneficiaries, too. Banks are forced to resort to tricks, various promotions and discounts.
“SP”: Well, yes, buy an apartment in the residential complex and get a baseball cap. Something like that?
— Not always. Somewhere developers offer discounts of 25%, and up to 30%. But in the end, no matter how you look at it, the one who buys an apartment still pays an average of up to 300% of the real cost for 15-20 years.
“SP”: Is it worth waiting for a decrease in apartment prices? For example, Artyom Golubev, Associate Professor of the Economics Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences, expressed the idea that this will not happen yet. But the circumstances, according to the expert’s forecasts, will change by 2025-2026 against the background of the expected stagnation of real estate prices and a reduction in the Central Bank’s key rate.
— I do not foresee a decline in housing prices in the near future. Realtors do not operate for such long-term periods as two years. It’s all theory. In practice, housing will not decrease in price under the influence of political and macroeconomic factors,” Yulia Bituse sums up.
It is clear that in such conditions the market will stagnate. The volume of unsold housing in Russia for 2023 They have already grown by 7% and reached 72.5 million square meters. meters. At the same time, construction sites in Russia does not stop. What can help lower house prices?
— First of all, protective measures for developers on the part of the state. Primary prices are not regulated in any way and are growing at a cosmic rate. Yes, inflation and an increase in the cost of building materials play a role, but developers are now operating in undeservedly luxurious conditions.
If the delivery of the house was delayed earlier, the developer paid a penalty. But it hasn’t worked for several years now. That is, developers who took money from the buyer are completely free in terms of housing delivery. However, now they have woken up and started offering installments and promotions. But so far it does not attract buyers en masse. And marketing campaigns are automatically included in the cost of housing and make it more expensive. There is another alarming trend: the secondary market has begun to rise in price,” real estate expert Natalia Pereskokova commented on the situation to the Joint Venture.
However, not everything is so hopeless. At least four new preferential mortgage programs are planned to be introduced in Russia. This was announced by Chairman of the Duma Committee on Financial Markets Anatoly Aksakov. First of all, this way they will support young professionals, as well as those who are engaged in industry, construction and science. The discussion will not be postponed, the issue may begin to be resolved in the fall.
— I think that in the next session we will start discussing several new programs at once, which, on the one hand, will simplify the purchase of housing for citizens, and on the other hand, will allow the state to increase its capabilities and resources in critical areas. First of all, this concerns industry — it is necessary to provide preferential conditions for valuable specialists, especially for those who are engaged in advanced high-tech industries.
There is also a proposal to introduce construction mortgages in those regions where large—scale construction is currently underway or is planned — both residential and infrastructural, and, again, industrial,” Anatoly Aksakov told SP. He added that it is also worth considering the issue of new scientific and industrial centers, where satellite cities should appear.
However, according to experts, this is advisable only if Sputnik is being built specifically to relieve a large historical city that is too overgrown in all respects.
It is still difficult to say whether such projects will become analogues of the “New Moscow”. But here we must take into account that the capital has much more funds for the development of infrastructure and transport than, say, Cheboksary.
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