Apartments are occupied without repair – Newspaper Kommersant No. 177 (7378) dated 09/26/2022

Due to the increase in the cost of construction, Moscow developers began to build more apartments without finishing: since the beginning of the year, the volume of such supply has increased by 62%. Thus, developers are trying to keep the cost of housing and reduce the risks of further unpredictable growth in prices for finishing materials. But for the buyers themselves, it is more profitable to buy an apartment with finishing, as private repairs have risen in price more.

From January to August, developers increased the supply of apartments without finishing in new buildings in Moscow in the mass segment by 62%, calculated in Metrium. At the same time, apartments with various renovation options grew at a much slower pace: the volume of lots with pre-finishing increased by 31%, and with full finishing – by 21%.

According to bnMap.pro, from January to September, the number of buildings under construction of the mass segment with apartments without finishing increased from 56 to 66, and the number of buildings with a mixed offer format, when apartments are offered both with and without finishing, decreased from 24 to 15 .

Developers began to offer apartments without finishing more often due to the increase in construction costs, explains Nadezhda Korkka, managing partner of Metrium. When designing new complexes, developers try to minimize the cost part either by reducing the cost of finishing, or by completely abandoning it, confirms Kirill Golyshev, regional director of the residential real estate and land development department at Nikoliers.

The increase in the cost of finishing was about 50% due to the rise in the cost of finishing materials and the complexity of logistics chains, says Ksenia Tsaplina, Director of the Department of Analytics and Sales Planning of FGC Group of Companies. In the current conditions, it is difficult to predict how much finishing will cost in one or two years, when the developer will need to purchase building materials, and this should be taken into account in the cost now, adds Roman Rodiontsev, director of the Est-a-Tet project consulting department. A number of items of finishing materials and electrics, recorded in the equity agreement, may disappear from the market by that time, Igor Sibrenkov, commercial director of Osnova Group, fears.

Developers were preparing for a long period of expensive mortgages and decided to reduce the total cost of the apartment by eliminating finishing, explains Nadezhda Korkka. This is necessary to increase the interest of buyers in conditions of limited demand, adds Sergey Nyukhalov, Deputy Sales Director of Granel Group of Companies. Due to the constant decline in the availability of real estate against the backdrop of inflation and a decrease in income, buyers are trying by all means to reduce the purchase receipt as much as possible, agrees Irina Dobrokhotova, chairman of the board of directors of Best Novostroy.

According to Metrium, apartments with full and pre-finishing finishes have risen in price by 7% since the beginning of the year, while housing without finishing, on the contrary, has lost 3%. Developers are trying to reduce prices by reducing the average area of ​​apartments – from 54 to 48 square meters. m.

Given the current realities, it is possible to predict a further increase in the share of projects without finishing, predicts Igor Sibrenkov. In the structure of the new proposal, which will enter the market in the next six months, the share of apartments with a rough finish may become prevalent, confirms Irina Dobrokhotova.

At the same time, experts say, it is more profitable to buy apartments with repairs from a developer than to do it yourself. While a developer’s finishing costs have increased by 25–30% over the past year, private contractors have grown by 40–50%, which means that “economically, buying an apartment with finishing still looks justified,” notes Ms. Dobrokhotova. In addition, Kirill Golyshev clarifies, finished housing allows you to include the cost of repairs in the amount of a mortgage loan.

Daria Andrianova