Buyers are moving abroad – Newspaper Kommersant No. 235 (7436) of 12/19/2022
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The geopolitical aggravation, and especially the partial mobilization announced in September, led to a surge in Russian demand for overseas real estate. It has more than doubled in a year. Three quarters of objects are bought for relocation. The main interest is concentrated around Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, but consultants see positive dynamics in some European areas as well. The only factor that in the future may weaken the demand of Russians for foreign real estate, analysts call a serious fluctuation of the ruble.
Over the year, the number of requests from Russians for the purchase of foreign real estate increased 2.3 times year-on-year and 1.7 times compared to the pre-pandemic 2019. Such data is provided by Prian.ru, adding that about 80% of demand is converted into real transactions. The current dynamics exceeded the initial forecast: analysts were guided by growth of 30-40% against the backdrop of the end of the pandemic. The editor-in-chief of Prian.ru, Philip Berezin, cites the conflict in Ukraine and the partial mobilization announced in September as the reasons for the excitement. Intermark Real Estate partner Irina Mosheva and Kalinka founder Ekaterina Rumyantseva also talk about a significant increase in buyer activity in foreign destinations, linking it to general instability in politics and the economy.
According to Prian.ru, this year 75% of clients purchased property to move in, in 2021 the figure was lower – 55%. “The share of those who bought a house by the sea to go there from time to time has decreased, now many people buy housing abroad for permanent residence,” Mr. Berezin notes. According to him, there are purely investment transactions on the market, but they are mainly concluded by those who already have real estate in another country. This is confirmed by the calculations of NF Group: 64% of transactions with foreign real estate this year were for obtaining a residence permit and citizenship, the remaining 36% – the purchase of objects for investment. Henley & Partners states that, despite the suspension of many programs for obtaining citizenship or residence permit for Russians for investment, the remaining ones took over the entire volume of applications. These are the programs of Grenada, Turkey, Montenegro, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Serbia, Bulgaria and the United Arab Emirates.
The main demand of overseas property buyers fell on countries where Russians can freely stay for a long time. Among the most popular countries, Prian.ru analysts single out Turkey, the UAE, Georgia, Montenegro, Thailand and Bulgaria. Irina Mosheva adds Indonesia to this list. In addition, according to her, clients are increasingly considering investments in Oman and Qatar.
Interest in real estate in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus, according to Prian.ru’s estimates, grew by 15-20% over the year. Parus Real Estate Managing Partner Marina Shalaeva confirms that Cyprus accounted for 14% of all inquiries, Portugal for 8%, Greece for 6%, Malta, Spain and the UK for 4% each. “European countries are less accessible to Russians due to difficulties with the transfer of funds and the “toxicity” of Russian passports, but most of those who already have a second passport or residence permit in one of the European countries do not particularly have such problems,” explains Mr. Berezin. Although the demand of Russians for real estate in Germany, according to him, has decreased by 27% over the year, in Latvia – by 23%.
At the same time, Mr. Berezin notes that in the spring, Russians faced difficulties and blocked accounts when transferring funds abroad, but now transactions are carried out relatively freely. Platforma.Legal partner Dmitry Maltsev confirms that there are usually no problems with payments from Russian non-sanctioned banks in Turkey.
High demand for overseas real estate, according to Philip Berezin’s forecasts, will continue in the coming months. “Many of those who left the country have not yet acquired housing and moved their families,” he says. In fact, according to his forecasts, only the devaluation of the ruble can lead to a decrease in demand. “If the rate is fixed at the level of 80-90 rubles. per dollar / euro, then there will be no significant reduction, ”the expert believes. Irina Mosheva predicts that the real estate markets of friendly countries will remain points of attraction for Russian buyers.
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