The offer of renting expensive apartments decreased by 20-30%

The return of some owners and potential tenants of high-budget rental apartments from abroad led to a decrease in supply on the market by 20-30%. Taking advantage of the revival, some property owners decided to sell their living space. These factors have led to a rise in prices in the segment, but consultants believe the current volume of demand is insufficient for a significant increase in rates.

The volume of supply in the high-budget rental market of Moscow (from 150 thousand rubles per month.— “b”) in the first half of 2023 decreased by 20% year-on-year and by 17% since the beginning of 2023, calculated in NF Group. For one proposal that has appeared, there are now 2.1 removed from the exposition, analysts specify. Intermark Real Estate is talking about a 31% year-on-year reduction in the number of available options. AREA representative Viktor Sadygov does not currently see any prerequisites for an increase in the volume of supply.

The sharp increase in exposure to the high-budget rental market occurred in 2022 after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, when many owners and potential tenants moved abroad. At the end of November, Intermark Real Estate was talking about more than doubling the number of available offers year on year. In NF Group, the annual decline in demand was estimated at 40%. This year the trend is changing. According to NF Group, in January-June, the number of requests increased by 11%. Elena Kulikova, head of the rental department at Intermark Real Estate, speaks of an increase of 23%.

Apple Real Estate associates the dynamics with reverse relocation and the return of some landlords from abroad. NF Group partner Andrey Solovyov adds that a number of potential clients have returned or are considering living in the two countries. The latter, in his opinion, is due to the focus of tenants in favor of more compact options.

According to the expert, according to the results of the first half of the year, 47% of requests were concentrated on apartments with an area of ​​up to 120 square meters. m, while a year earlier there were 30%. Ms. Kulikova fears that the tenants’ decisions to relocate back are temporary, and their departure will lead to the termination of contracts and may adversely affect market dynamics.

The return of part of the owners and tenants is not the only reason for the reduction in supply. Viktor Sadigov says that some of the homeowners could decide to stay abroad and now they are not renting out, but selling apartments.

Andrey Solovyov confirms that there is a revival in the secondary real estate market: in the first six months, consultants received 40% more purchase requests than a year earlier. According to him, the focus of wealthy buyers today is mainly focused on finished properties, and about a third of rental lots are also exhibited in the sale segment.

Reducing supply pushes prices up. According to Elena Kulikova, the average demand budget for the year increased by a third, to 227 thousand rubles. The offer price has increased by 5% since the beginning of the year, to 337.5 thousand rubles. Andrey Solovyov estimates the average cost of a rental lot in the high-budget segment at 400,000 rubles, indicating a 3% growth since the beginning of the year. “We have observed isolated cases of price increases, for most objects prices have remained at the same level,” he notes.

Vladimir Rodionov, head of the Apple Real Estate rental department, adds that there are practically no discounts left on the market. But in the future, prices are unlikely to rise by more than 7-10% and only for the most liquid lots, he said.

Viktor Sadigov believes that part of the increase in rates may be dictated by an increase in the costs of owners for the maintenance of facilities. In general, all the consultants polled by Kommersant are inclined to lay down the restrained price dynamics. As Elena Kulikova notes, despite the presence of signs of recovery, we are still talking about insufficient demand, and therefore there are no prerequisites for a significant price increase yet.

Alexandra Mertsalova