Demand for parking spaces has increased in large cities

Increasing building density and expanding paid parking zones are forcing residents of large Russian cities to think more often about purchasing parking spaces. Over the year, the demand for garages and parking spaces increased by 17–39%. However, there are no more proposals: developers are trying to reduce the construction of parking lots due to their low margins.

Demand for the purchase of garages in 33 major cities of Russia in October increased by 17% year-on-year, and parking spaces by 39%, according to Avito Real Estate. At the same time, the volume of supply of garages decreased by 12%, and parking spaces increased by only 7%. “Garages are a disappearing format, although their cost over the year on average across the country increased by 17%, to 350 thousand rubles,” explains Oleg Izotov, head of the Avito commercial real estate category. “Parking areas are being built as part of residential complexes, so the price dynamics for parking spaces in them is still stable and amounts to an average of 800 thousand rubles in Russia.”

According to the Autostat agency, at the beginning of 2023 there were 315 cars per 1 thousand Russians. The supply changes slightly: in 2022 – 318 cars per 1 thousand inhabitants, in 2021 – 313, in 2020 – 309. The indicator lags behind the average for Eastern European countries, where there are 400–500 cars per 1 thousand inhabitants, says automotive expert Vladimir Bespalov.

Among cities with a population of one million over the year, the most noticeable demand for the purchase of parking spaces, according to Avito Real Estate, grew in Ufa – more than doubling, supply increased by only 6%. In Volgograd, where demand has also doubled, a 2% year-on-year decline in the number of available car storage spaces was recorded. In Moscow, demand for parking spaces increased by 52% over the year, which is significantly more than the supply volume, which increased by 16% over the same period. In St. Petersburg, the dynamics were 26% and 5%, respectively.

Thus, in Moscow in the third quarter of 2023, 3.1 thousand parking spaces were sold – three times more year-on-year, notes Tatyana Podkidysheva, executive director of NDV Real Estate Supermarket. Over the year, the price increased by 57.4%, to 142.8 thousand rubles. for 1 sq. m, adds Managing Director of Metrium Ruslan Syrtsov. At the same time, according to Roman Rodiontsev, director of the project consulting department at Est-a-Tet, the volume of supply in the primary market of Moscow decreased by 10%, to 14.4 thousand parking spaces.

“Previously, buying a parking space for 2 million rubles. for a car with the same cost seemed illogical, but now the cost of a new car reaches 4 million rubles, and it makes sense to purchase a place to store it,” says Denis Bobkov, head of marketing and analytics at Asterus. Key Capital CEO Olga Guseva considers the interest to be forced, linking it with the spread of paid parking zones in cities. But this indirectly affects the situation, insists Tatiana Polidi, vice-president of the Institute of Urban Economics Foundation, emphasizing that the demand for parking spaces is increasing due to the growing population of agglomerations and the high density of urban development.

Currently, obligations to create parking spaces are enshrined in urban planning standards, but they are the subject of constant discussions between the authorities and developers, the expert explains. In Moscow, according to Ruslan Syrtsov, there should be at least 350 parking spaces per 1 thousand citizens, but this coefficient takes into account only the number of apartment owners, and not those living in residential complexes.

Ms. Polidi explains that it is not profitable for developers to create large parking lots. “For developers, this is an inevitable burden with low margins,” notes Mr. Syrtsov. At the same time, Tatyana Podkidysheva talks about the presence of investment demand for parking spaces: they are bought for resale or rental. But the payback period in this case reaches 15 years, warns Mr. Bobkov. Although, according to Avito Real Estate, the demand for rental parking spaces in Russia as a whole increased by 42% over the year, and in Moscow by 57%. Supply increased only by 10% and 11%, respectively. Tatyana Polidi has no doubt that the cost of owning a personal car for Russians will increase, but does not expect that this will contribute to the abandonment of them.

Alexandra Mertsalova