Percentage is discounted from new buildings – Newspaper Kommersant No. 36 (7481) dated 03/02/2023

The reduction in sales in Moscow new buildings at the beginning of this year by more than a third makes developers reduce prices for a significant part of the areas under construction. Now 18-23 thousand flats and suites are being sold in the capital with discounts, or 36-45% of all properties in the primary market. A year ago, the share was much lower. The average size of discounts from developers is 10%. There are no prerequisites for a recovery in demand, experts say, so the share and level of discounts may increase.

In February, 44.8%, or 22.87 thousand apartments and apartments offered for sale by developers in the old boundaries of Moscow, were sold at a discount, calculated the real estate market analytics service BnMap.pro. According to Dataflat.ru, last month this figure reached 36%, or 18.6 thousand lots. Both companies noticed an increase in the share of space sold at a discount compared to February last year, when about 10% of housing in new buildings, or about 2.6-2.8 thousand apartments and suites, were sold in this way.

To increase the number of lots with developer discounts makes a sharp decline in demand that began last spring due to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. In 2022 in Moscow, according to Dataflat.ru, the drop in sales in new buildings reached 22%, to 3 million square meters. At the beginning of this year, the situation became even worse: in January, according to the capital’s Rosreestr, 5.77 thousand transactions were registered in the primary market, which is 43% less year-on-year and 35.4% less than December 2022.

At the same time, in February, according to BnMap.pro, the average prices for new buildings in the mass segment increased by 2% yoy, to 316 thousand rubles. for 1 sq. m, in the business class – by 6%, up to 481 thousand rubles.

Another reason that forced developers to stimulate sales through discounts is the need to direct more funds from equity holders to escrow accounts, says Irina Dobrokhotova, head of the Best Novostroy board of directors. The size of project financing rates allocated by banks to developers for the construction of residential complexes depends on the volume of filling of such accounts. Thus, when the occupancy of escrow accounts is more than 70%, the average lending rate for developers is 3-4%, above 90% – about 1%.

Due to the reduction in some developers for a number of projects, the occupancy of escrow accounts now does not exceed 30%, says a Kommersant source from among developers. In this case, the rate of loans is twice as high.

According to DOLGOV PRO CEO Dmitry Dolgov, in February of this year, the maximum discounts for new buildings reached 35%. At the same time, the average discount was 10%, which is only 2 percentage points higher than a year ago, the expert adds.

So, at Granel Group, according to Sergey Nyukhalov, Deputy Sales Director of the company, depending on the project, discounts are 10-25%. In February of this year, FSK Group of Companies had a discount of 10-15%, while a year ago it was 7-8%; GC “Mangazeya” – 14% and 10%, respectively.

However, developers do not give discounts to all buyers. “Discounts are provided to those who are ready to promptly enter a transaction, paying it in full in cash or using a mortgage (at preferential or market rates subsidized by the state. — “Kommersant“)”, – says Ksenia Tsaplina, director of the department of analytics and sales planning at FGC Group of Companies. However, discounts are often offered in those projects where prices were inflated at their start, says Yana Glazunova, general director of VSN Realty.

In the first half of 2023, the share of offers at a discount will only increase, as there are no prerequisites for a recovery in demand in the market, Ms. Glazunova predicts. The effect of discounts will continue on already sold properties, while new projects will enter the market with more conservative pricing, that is, a market discount already laid down, Anna Murmuridis, Senior Analyst and Consultant at Nikoliers Residential Real Estate Department, believes. But there will be fewer new projects. This, sums up Dataflat CEO Alexander Pypin, is another reaction of developers to a decrease in demand.

Daria Andrianova