System developers have shown interest in the construction of private houses

The expansion of systemic developers into the individual housing construction (IHC) market contributed to the growth of supply in the segment in the country’s largest markets to 46% per year. Buyer activity has also increased, which contributes to an increase in the cost of individual housing construction. But the market potential may be limited due to the undeveloped infrastructure of the suburbs and the mismatch between consumer price expectations and the ambitions of developers.

The number of offers of houses is growing both within cottage villages and outside them. Thus, in the Moscow region, indicators increased over the year by 46% and 49%, as calculated by Yandex Real Estate. In St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, indicators increased by 26% and 35%, in Tatarstan – by 7.3 times and 3.5 times, respectively. Etazhi notes that the volume of supply in Russia as a whole increased by 13.6% over the year. The head of CIAN.Analytics, Alexey Popov, says that in the Moscow region there are now 10.5 thousand full-fledged houses on display – objects with water supply, sewerage and heating, in the Leningrad region – 2.1 thousand lots. Year-on-year indicators grew by 5% and 3%, respectively, from the beginning of 2024 – by 20% in both markets. The latter, according to the expert, is most likely due to seasonality.

Commercial Director of Yandex Real Estate Evgeny Belokurov connects the increase in supply in cottage villages with the expansion of federal developers into the suburban market. This year the increase in supply on the market will continue, he predicts. Director of the Marketing Department of FSK Family Ekaterina Kogan says that over the past year in the Moscow region, 39 new projects involving the implementation of individual housing construction have been launched on the market. The head of the Etazhey suburban real estate center, Anton Saukov, talks about the general influx of large and small investors into the suburban real estate market, buying up plots for building houses.

Demand for individual residential buildings (IHC) over the year, according to the director of the secondary real estate department at Est-a-Tet, Yulia Dymova, increased by 10%. The expert largely attributes this to the expansion of supply. The entry of large developers into the market has made the construction of facilities more understandable for consumers, since independently calculating the budget for purchasing land and implementing a project is often not easy. Anton Saukov estimates the increase in demand at 24% year on year. Managing Director of Samolet Dom Ivan Vinogradov says that over the past year, the company’s sales in the segment increased by 58%.

Yulia Dymova believes that the demand for individual housing construction is stimulated, in particular, by rural mortgages, which provide lending at a rate of up to 3% in settlements where up to 30 thousand people live. But the program does not work in the Moscow region, and this is where many projects of large developers are concentrated, points out Alexey Popov. Ivan Vinogradov adds that for individual housing construction there are no special mortgage programs with a low down payment.

The average cost of suburban real estate is growing moderately. According to Yandex Real Estate, in the Moscow region, the median supply price in cottage villages increased by 3.8% year on year, to 170 thousand rubles. per sq. m, in St. Petersburg and the region – by 7.7%, up to 92 thousand rubles. per sq. m, in Tatarstan – by 31%, up to 75 thousand rubles. per sq. m. Alexey Popov notes that a full-fledged house in the Moscow region increased in price over the year on average by 11%, to 17.7 million rubles, in the Leningrad region – by 4%, to 15.3 million rubles. Massive entry into the market of supply from federal players could theoretically help reduce average prices, but so far the trend has not been observed globally, he notes.

Development Director at Kaskad Real Estate Katerina Istomina believes that suburban real estate in the Moscow region is greatly undervalued, since one’s own home is often considered only as a second home, which limits demand. Although Anton Saukov notes that the cost of liquid suburban properties already significantly exceeds the expectations of buyers. Alexey Popov adds that the limiting factor for moving to individual housing construction remains the worse quality of social infrastructure in the suburbs and the reduction in opportunities for remote work.

Alexandra Mertsalova