- The demand of Russian-speaking clients for real estate abroad increased by 61% in the first half of 2022.
- Turkey and the UAE are in the top destinations, but for many investors these countries are not the end point, but only a “crossing” on the way to Europe and the United States.
- Russian—speaking clients are more likely to choose housing for future relocation in Germany and the USA, and vacation properties in Italy and Thailand.
How has the choice of foreign destinations changed in 2022
According to Tranio, in the first half of 2022, Turkey, Spain and the UAE entered the top three in terms of the number of requests for the purchase of foreign real estate from Russian-speaking clients. At the same time, changes in The top 10 countries are not so significant compared to last year: many countries traditionally popular with Russian-speaking investors remained in the top ten, although they lost the lead to new favorites.
In part, the stability of the rating is due to the fact that Tranio statistics take into account requests from all Russian-speaking buyers, including those who do not live in Of Russia. However, this year, buyers from Russia also actively used the opportunity to legally buy real estate abroad, fearing stricter regulation in the future. The total number of applications from Russian-speaking clients in all directions increased by 61% in the first half of 2022.
In absolute terms, the most noticeable growth is in Turkey: in the 1st half of 2022, we received 800+ more applications than in the same period in 2021. The rise in Russian demand for housing in Turkey this year is also recorded in the official statistics of local authorities.
The turning point was the last week of winter: until February, about 10% of our clients considered real estate in Turkey, and in June the figure reached 25%. Similarly, at the beginning of the year, only 4% of customers considered buying in the UAE, and in June 2022 — 16%. Real estate in About 6% of our customers were interested in Georgia before February 24, and about 8% of our customers were interested in April-June 2022.
Austria, Cyprus and Malta are gaining popularity from European destinations, while Thailand and Indonesia are gaining popularity from Asian ones.
We noted a decrease in the number of applications from Russian-speaking clients in countries such as the USA, Switzerland, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. In the first half of 2022, only 3% of Tranio’s customers applied for a purchase in the United States, although in 2021 their share reached 9%.
Although popular European countries were among the top ten, there was a sharp decline in interest from Russians in March. At the beginning of the year, 16% of our customers planned to buy in Spain, in June — about 10%, real estate in About 12% of customers were interested in Greece at the beginning of the year, and about 6% in June.
In January-February, 6% of customers were interested in real estate in Germany, and in June — only 3%, applications for purchase in Portugal had 5% of customers at the beginning of the year, and in June it also had 3%. Finally, about 5% of customers considered buying in the United States before February 24, and now only about 2% of customers. However, the low demand for direct purchase in the United States does not reflect the whole picture: sometimes clients invest in Turkey’s “golden passport” in order to purchase real estate in the United States in the future.
Some customers from In the spring of this year, Russia considered complex transactions: for example, the purchase of a “golden passport” in Turkey and further investment in Western countries. In particular, the EB-5 investment program in the United States is available to Turkish citizens, in which Russians cannot participate.
This spring, the limit for the “golden passport” of Turkey was 250 thousand US dollars, and we accompanied individual transactions for the purchase of housing in Istanbul for further participation in this program. Since June 13, the threshold has been raised to 400 thousand US dollars, but interest in the program remains.
A new passport is a priority for investors
In the first half of 2022, the majority of Tranio’s Russian-speaking clients, speaking about the goals of buying real estate abroad, noted their intention to obtain citizenship or a residence permit. The second most popular goal is the purchase of real estate for recreation, in third place is the purchase for rent or a future move.
Turkey is the leader in the Golden passport programs, and clients choose real estate in Dubai, Greece, Portugal and Italy for obtaining a residence permit.
Among Tranio’s clients who have applied for facilities in In Portugal, 43% were interested in the “golden visa”, and another 33% planned to move to this country. The goal of obtaining a residence permit for investments in Dubai real estate was set by 40% of clients in this area. Similarly, 27% of clients were interested in the “golden visa” in Greece, and residence permits in France and Italy — 28% and 23% of clients, respectively.
43% of clients wanted to buy a house in Turkey to obtain a passport or residence permit, and 23% and 18% of clients were interested in vacation or “vacation and rental” real estate, respectively. Investors applying for the “golden passport” of Turkey most often chose real estate in Istanbul, and buyers of vacation real estate chose resort complexes in Alanya.
To findhousing for future relocation was most often wanted in Germany: here 60% of customers indicated this purchase motivation, and another 10% chose housing for children coming to Germany to study. For moving, our clients often chose real estate in the USA, where the share of applications for this purpose was 50%.
Russian-speaking clients most often searched for vacation properties in countries such as Thailand (40% of all applications in this area), Italy (40%), Croatia (36%), Montenegro (34%), France and Cyprus (33% each in both countries).
Customers are more likely to consider buying a house as a holiday home: the proportion of applications for this type of facility is higher here than in other regions. Thus, 38% of clients in this area were looking for villas and houses in Thailand, 37% in Italy and Croatia, 32% in Cyprus, and 31% in Montenegro.
Often, the accompanying purpose of the purchase is to generate income from resort real estate, for which different types of contracts are possible. In some cases, owners can rent out objects most of the time, and during a certain period they can come on vacation themselves. In some rental properties, this option is not provided.
To take into account the differences in rental management conditions, we separate the purpose of the purchase “for recreation and rental”. For such purposes, Russian-speaking buyers most often searched for objects in Spain (30% of all applications in this area), the United States (29%), Dubai (27%), the United Kingdom (23%), Cyprus and Montenegro (22% each).
The growth in demand for such objects is indirectly evidenced by the choice of the type of real estate. In June, about 90% of clients in Dubai consider only apartments, whereas at the beginning of the year their share was about 60%. Among the applications for real estate in Cyprus in January-February, about 50% of requests were for houses only, and in March their share decreased to 25-30%.
Finally, buying for resale was most often relevant for clients considering real estate in Croatia (13% of applications), the UAE (6%) and Montenegro (5%).
They are willing to pay more for luxury housing in Dubai than in Europe
If we talk about purchase budgets and real estate classes, then Russian-speaking clients traditionally choose expensive properties in the high-end segment in the markets of France, the USA, Great Britain and Switzerland. The cost of luxury real estate in these countries is usually estimated in tens of millions of euros. In the middle-market segment, one can note a preference for real estate in Spain, Italy and Germany, where Russians choose properties with a budget of 500 thousand to 1 million euros.
Finally, the mass segment in foreign markets can include real estate in Turkey, Montenegro and Cyprus: these regions are more often considered by Russians with a purchase budget of about 100-200 thousand euros. In Greece, purchases for a “golden visa” in a budget of 250 thousand euros were popular and customers expect the resumption of the program.
The average price trend does not mean that clients with a budget of 1 million euros or more always prefer real estate in Germany or Italy, rather than in Greece or Turkey.
The choice of a region is influenced by many factors, including business interests and family ties, so global generalizations on the profile of the country should not be made.
In the 1st half of 2022, luxury real estate in France (the maximum application budget was 40 million euros), in the UK, Switzerland and Italy (20 million euros) and in the USA (19 million euros) is still in demand by wealthy clients.
In Dubai, the maximum budget for an application for luxury real estate has reached 40 million euros, leaving behind many European regions.
In the middle segment, there is still demand for real estate in Germany, where such regions as Hesse (median budget — 1.05 million euros), Baden-Württemberg (1 million euros) and Bavaria (500 thousand euros). In the UK, buyers were mainly interested in apartments in London with a median budget of 500 thousand euros.
In Italy, Russian—speaking clients chose properties in Tuscany (median budget — 1.35 million euros), in Portugal – in Porto (600 thousand euros), in France — villas on the Cote d’Azur and apartments in Paris (500 thousand euros), in Spain — houses in Andalusia (500 thousand euros).
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