The Russians called the rates at which they are ready to take a mortgage on secondary housing

– I will repeat my favorite phrase: affordable mortgages do not make housing affordable, – says Oleg Repchenko, head of the Analytical Center “Real Estate Market Indicators”, – On the contrary, as happened in the new building market, affordable mortgages dispersed housing prices and led to the formation of a price bubble. The same fate can befall the secondary market in those cities where subsidized mortgages will come. Buyers will not benefit.

By extending subsidized mortgages to “secondary housing”, though not in all cities, the state will support not the buyer, but the seller, increasing his profit from the sale of the apartment at the expense of the budget. “Pricing in the secondary market depends almost exclusively on the appetites of the owner, in contrast to the primary market. There are no construction costs, project financing, obligations to equity holders and other factors that prevent price reduction. Problems with demand in the” secondary market “are solved by lowering the cost of apartments”, – says Repchenko.

Most of the resale sellers bought their apartments many years ago, when prices were at a completely different level. Some owners even privatized apartments or inherited them. “The seller can provide himself with demand by simply lowering the price to the market level, and at the same time he will not go into the red,” the expert believes.

At what percentage are Russians ready to take out a mortgage for secondary housing in cities where there are no new buildings?

During a recent online vote on IRN.RU, potential apartment buyers named 1-3% and 6% as an adequate mortgage rate (in general, both in the primary market and in the secondary market), the expert continues. These are the rates that people have become accustomed to in recent years. But people are also looking at the current level of prices for apartments, without reference to which it is impossible to talk about mortgages. And the prices are not encouraging: a secondary meter costs 1.5-2 times more than two or three years ago. But incomes did not grow so much, the rise in prices was not market-driven.

To take a mortgage at 10-12% (at this level are the rates for the purchase of secondary housing) few people want. For 87% of Russians, low apartment prices turned out to be preferable to low mortgage rates, sociologists say.

There are about 1.1 thousand cities in Russia. Under the new state program, if it nevertheless appears on the market in the discussed volumes, every second settlement will fall. Traditionally, little housing is built in the Far East – only 3.6 million square meters. m. for 2022, according to Rosstat. For comparison: only in Moscow in 2022, about 6.8 million square meters were commissioned. m of residential property.

Commissioning rates are at a minimum in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (3.5 thousand sq. m. in 2022), the Magadan Region (11.5 thousand sq. m. per year), the Jewish Autonomous Region (25.3 thousand sq. m. per 2022), in the Kamchatka Territory (67.4 thousand square meters in 2022) – these are Rosstat data. In the country as a whole, housing is not being built at all or very little is being built in the Republic of Tyva and Kalmykia (0.1 million sq. m each in 2022), Altai and Ingushetia (0.2 million sq. m each in 2022) ), in the Kurgan region and in Mordovia (0.3 million sq. m per year). In the Central District, commissioning statistics are pulled up by Moscow and the region. At the same time, in the Ivanovo, Kostroma, Orel and Tambov regions, for example, 300-400 thousand square meters were built in a year. m of housing.

A resident of Naryan-Mar, Alexander Shokolov, says that there is no construction in the region at all, “only siding.” But he wants to improve his living conditions – to change the “three-ruble note” for a multi-room apartment, since he has five children.

How do Russians buy housing or change it now in cities where there are no new buildings? How relevant is this for residents?

– Everything is decided through the secondary market, because in general there is no alternative. Either those who need housing go for rent or buy secondary housing, – says Irina Dobrokhotova, managing partner of Dombook, founder of BEST-Novostroy, – It is clear that there is much less quality housing in such cities than in cities with new buildings, because there is no natural renewal of the housing stock. If the city is active enough, this is a serious problem for residents, because, of course, they want quality new housing without wear and tear.

Dobrokhotova suggests that the rate in any case should be less than 10%, ideally comparable to the rate on a mortgage with state support in the primary market, about 8%.

– The interest on the loan should allow you to pay a monthly installment with a minimum burden on the family budget, – says the expert. – Since we are talking about preferential mortgages in cities where primary housing is not being built, it is clear that the level of salaries there is not Moscow. In regions where the northern coefficient on salaries operates, the costs are also very high. Therefore, first of all, the cost of a mortgage should be lifting for buyers. Of course, the lower the percentage, the better, but there is a key rate, there are issues of state subsidies.

It would be logical to issue mortgages on secondary market apartments in cities with a minimum number or complete absence of new buildings at 5-6%, believes Elena Mishchenko, head of the urban real estate department at NDV Real Estate Supermarket,

“The exchange of housing in the regions is very popular. In addition to transactions with secondary apartments are: cars, garages, inexpensive land, household equipment,” she adds.