Moscow realtors threw off the percentage – Newspaper Kommersant No. 234 (7435) of 12/16/2022

Low demand in the Moscow market for long-term rental apartments has increased competition between realtors. The size of their commission against this background decreased by 30-50% of the monthly cost of hiring. At the same time, there are more homeowners on the market who expect to do without the services of intermediaries. These are mainly those who rent out their housing for the first time due to the deterioration of their financial situation or the desire to leave the country.

The commission for the services of realtors in Moscow for long-term rental housing has been reduced from 100% to 50-70% of the monthly payment, Olga Pavlinova, director of the department for renting residential and commercial real estate at Etazhi, told Kommersant. According to her, this trend is typical only for the Moscow market. Vladimir Rodionov, head of the “Rent” direction of Apple Real Estate, cites the geopolitical background, the decrease in the solvency of customers and high competition between realtors as the reasons for the significant reduction in the commission of realtors. Vice-President of the Russian Guild of Realtors Konstantin Aprelev also points to a reduction in remuneration of intermediaries to 50-60%. According to him, earlier the size of the premium to realtors reached 100%.

Cyan.Analytics expert Victoria Kiryukhina notes that since September, the share of advertisements for rental housing, where a commission of 41-50% is expected, has increased by 7 percentage points (p.p.), up to 30%. The share of offers with a commission of 61–70% decreased by 3 percentage points to 46%. With a surcharge of 91-100%, only 3% of apartments are now rented out, since September the figure has halved. According to Konstantin Kamenev, the head of the long-term rental category at Avito Nedvizhimost, a 5-10% increase in the share of direct ads from owners since the beginning of November may affect the reduction in commissions to realtors. This trend is visible in all major cities, she adds.

The number of direct rental ads, according to Konstantin Aprelev, is increasing against the background of the appearance on the market of owners who rent apartments for the first time. “It always happens during a crisis, people decide to improve their situation through more efficient use of real estate,” he explains. In addition, according to the expert, homeowners who leave the country often try to rent an apartment without intermediaries. “If these are qualified specialists, they may have enough knowledge and skills to conclude a deal on their own,” he notes. However, Vladimir Rodionov is confident that the situation has not changed in the high-budget housing rental segment: “Self-attracting clients or working with small agencies is ineffective here.” But the owners usually pay the commission when renting expensive housing, Mr. Kamenev points out.

Olga Pavlinova names another factor in reducing the commission of agents a noticeable increase in the supply of rental apartments. There are significantly fewer clients than objects on the market, Mr. Rodionov notes. Victoria Kiryukhina confirms that the amount of remuneration for agents varies greatly depending on the situation: “The smaller the choice of apartments for rent and the greater the demand, the higher the average commission.”

Negative trends in the long-term rental market, according to Konstantin Aprelev, became especially felt after the announcement of partial mobilization at the end of September: its consequences were offset by the seasonal revival traditional for this period. According to Inkom-Nedvizhimost, at the end of November, supply on the Moscow market exceeded September by 25%. According to Cyan.Analytics, the average cost of renting one-room apartments in the city in November amounted to 44.8 thousand rubles. per month, two-room apartments – 71.6 thousand rubles. Compared to the same period last year, the figures decreased by 11% and 22%, respectively.

Olga Pavlinova also draws attention to the growing number of fraudulent schemes in the rental market. So, according to her, we can talk about realtors who offer potential tenants to pay a fixed amount for the selection of an apartment, but do not guarantee a real result. “These can be offers in the spirit of “pay 10 thousand rubles and get a selection of profitable apartments,” she says.

Alexandra Mertsalova