The realtor explained the decrease in the number of apartments for rent

“They stay in a rented apartment until the last minute, avoiding changes”

In Russia, the number of advertisements for apartments for rent has decreased significantly. We are talking, according to information from specialized Telegram channels, about vacant residential units offered for rent: there are now only 44 thousand relevant advertisements in the country. This is almost half as much as in 2020-2022. Anna Ponomareva, head of the rental department of a real estate company specializing in premium housing, told MK about the reasons for the current situation.

“The decrease in supply is quite natural; it is observed against the backdrop of increased demand, which has been in Moscow since the summer of 2022,” the expert noted. – Last year’s season started much earlier than the traditional end of August – beginning of September; activation began in June-July. Then demand continued to grow, peaking in September-October, and even in the winter months, when the market is usually quiet, interest in rentals was quite active.”

According to the realtor, increased demand has arisen, among other things, due to rising mortgage rates: some potential home buyers, including those who came to the capital for work, are still “remaining in the rental segment.” A similar situation probably occurs in St. Petersburg and other large cities where people move to find work.

The lack of supply is also felt in the upper (from 250 thousand rubles per month) price segment, confirms Ponomareva. “Firstly, apartments rented in the last few years (in 2020 and later) are mostly not released: people prefer to continue renting them,” the expert notes. “If in previous years, tenants in the upper segment quite often moved a year and a half after moving into an apartment, now such cases are rare.”

Apartments of this category, according to the realtor, are now rarely rented out even if they leave Russia: wealthy relocants continue to pay rent. “They come home from time to time, and they do not completely abandon their plans to return to their homeland,” comments MK’s interlocutor.

“The second point is the growing demands of tenants on the quality of housing,” says Ponomareva. – It’s not only about the level of repair, but also about the atmosphere, the feeling of comfort. Since 2020, with the departure of foreign tenants, some premium and elite-class apartments have become available, but these options are generally not very interesting to domestic employers. The fact is that European tenants, following the standards that have developed in their homeland, normally perceive renting an empty apartment and are ready to transport their furniture. Apartments with white walls, minimalist in design, and practically unfurnished are perfect for such clients. Such apartments are not in demand among Russian tenants – on the contrary, there is a clear demand for apartments with high-quality, new, thoughtful interiors, with designer decoration, with selected paintings, figurines, textiles, etc.

As a result, apartments that interest tenants are now rented “at first viewing,” states Anna Ponomareva. However, an influx of new proposals is expected in the luxury segment: owner-investors are now completing renovations that were delayed due to the wave of crises, after which they will enter the market.

As for the more mass segment of the market, the reduction in the supply of apartments for rent can be explained by approximately the same factors: tenants have become more “sedentary,” confirms Dmitry Borisov, director of a branch of a network real estate company in the North-Western Administrative District of Moscow. “Thanks to the widespread introduction of the practice of deposits, penalties and the increased cost of moving and repairs, now changing rental housing has become extremely traumatic,” the interlocutor of MK emphasized. “That’s why they stay in a rented apartment until the last minute, avoiding changes.”

A number of transactions, according to Borisov, may simply “go into the shadows”: out of a desire to save on taxes, apartment owners and tenants may enter into amicable agreements. But how safe such relationships are even among acquaintances is, as they say, a completely different story.