Residents of border areas are trying to get rid of their real estate

Yekaterina Maksimova, Natalia Seybil

Shells and discounts

By the end of the year, the Belgorod region will most likely break the Russian anti-record for falling real estate prices. This trend is already confirmed by Rosstat: according to the results of the third quarter, the most tangible price reduction was recorded there. Belgorod secondary housing, according to the department, has lost almost 7% in price.

Market participants will definitely not agree with the conclusions of Rosstat: apartments from owners in this region have fallen in price much more significantly.

“If earlier the cost of one square meter in the secondary housing was 100-120 thousand rubles, now it is already 70-80 thousand rubles per square. The price fall in the Belgorod region began in February this year, then the process slowed down for some time. But as soon as there is “noise” at the top, so to speak, prices immediately drop. The swing is such that it depends on the arrival of shells”, - explained Yulia Slepchenko, founder of the Agent 007 real estate agency.

Alexander Milsky, head of the Like Real Estate agency, adds: “There are a lot of objects for sale. A wide variety of options. Because of this, prices are creeping down. There are over 1,000 apartments for sale now. Urgent sales are generally 60-65 thousand rubles per square meter.

In his opinion, residents of the Belgorod region have not yet come to terms with the new reality in the real estate market. And sellers out of habit are still trying to sell for the "February" price.

“This is the mistake of many sellers. Prices on advertising platforms are not at all the figures for which transactions are actually being carried out now. If you see that the apartment is listed with a price of 120,000 per square meter, then in reality it will be from 65,000 to 100,000 per square meter”, - explains Alexander Milsky.

According to him, prices for suburban real estate also sank significantly. “If a year ago a fresh house in the Belgorod region cost 5.5 million rubles, now the initial price is 4.5 million, but in order to sell, you have to try very hard,” adds the head of the Like Real Estate Academy of Sciences.

In the Kursk region, where real estate prices have traditionally been lower than in the Belgorod market (the average price in the secondary market is 75.6 thousand rubles), the situation is slightly better. At the same time, the Kursk scenario still does not fit into the major forecast of Rosstat, which recorded a drop in prices by 1.8% compared to the third in the third quarter.

“If in February or March an apartment in Kursk was sold on average for 3 million rubles, now you can safely subtract 25% from that price. Good options were sold for 3.1-3.2 million rubles, now it is already 2.6-2.7 million rubles. But 2.8 million is already a little expensive”, - said Andrei Dolgushin, a representative of the Academy of Sciences “Pro House 46”.

Private houses, located in close proximity to the zone of the SMO, to sell, in his opinion, is now completely unrealistic. “These are mainly villages, where the demand for real estate was practically zero even before February,” Dolgushin added.

But the representative of the Kursk real estate agency "My City" Irina Kazulina is more optimistic: prices fell from April to July, and in August the Kursk real estate market after the failure nevertheless began to revive.

Buyers, wow...

There are practically no buyers for sharply and significantly cheaper real estate near the borders with Ukraine. Representatives of the real estate community of the Belgorod region believe that demand has dipped by about 50%. Kuryans in their assessments stopped at around 38-45%.

“Here's one example: just the other day, a view apartment in the center of Belgorod was put up for sale with an excellent renovation. At the best of times it was sold at a price of 140 thousand per square meter, now 105 thousand per square meter. In two days, one call, and then - to ask”, - says Alexander Milsky.

Yulia Slepchenko adds: “Before the SVO, we had approximately 190-195 properties for sale in apartments, and only after the announcement of partial mobilization, 350 lots “hung”. As for private houses, there were twice as many offers, but since the beginning of autumn, the suburban real estate season has generally “closed”. People understand that now there is nothing to sell and they will have to spend the winter here. Sales volumes fell at least 10 times. And if in previous years, from March to November, 100-150 houses were sold, now at most 15. They are bought mainly by northerners, and then on the condition that their children live here”.

The representative of the Kursk real estate agency "My City" Irina Kazulina notes that Kursk is in a more advantageous position. “In autumn, the market became dynamic, we are seeing a traditional seasonal surge. In terms of the volume of transactions, even the indicators of January-February 2022 were exceeded. Among the buyers at this time of the year, visitors are traditionally in the lead, mainly northerners. In addition, we have an agricultural region and farmers usually buy real estate in Kursk after harvesting and selling their crops. Someone does it for the sake of children, others act as investors, that is, they invest in real estate,” Irina Kazulina specified.

Can't sell out

Market participants unanimously note a surge of interest in a new service - the selection of real estate in other cities of Russia and abroad.

“People are very depressed. Frightened and feel - they are not protected. They come, wipe away tears and ask: where can you quickly buy real estate, better, of course, without a down payment. Because who will buy something in the Shebekinsky district now? We have zero deals. We are starting to select options for them in the primary market in other regions where there are still preferential programs from developers, ”said the owner of one of the Belgorod agencies, who asked not to be named.

Her colleague Yulia Slepchenko confirms this trend. “We didn’t do this at all before, there were single requests. And now it is becoming widespread. Many transactions with Moscow, St. Petersburg, where a wide range of offers with subsidized rates from developers. The Central Bank opposes mortgages from developers at 0.1%, but for residents of the Belgorod Region, this is a very interesting option under the current conditions”, - says Yulia Slepchenko.

According to her, in the TOP and foreign real estate. Montenegro, Georgia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are in great demand. “We don’t talk about politics with clients, but in the course of the transaction we still understand: those who leave for Moscow, St. Petersburg or Krasnodar, they are going and want to live in Russia. But those who are interested in foreign lots, as a rule, have already made the final decision for themselves - to leave Russia forever, ”summed up Yulia Slepchenko.

The general director of the Moscow real estate agency "Mayak" Yulia Bituse, in turn, noted that the number of buyers from the border areas has really increased in the capital's market. “Kuryan is even bigger, apparently, the region is richer. But it cannot be said that this somehow affected the capital market. The Moscow market is still in a diving situation and no residents from the border regions will save it until the sellers realize the need to reduce prices and accept the situation that housing is no longer an investment tool”, - Yulia Bituse believes.

But, the expert noted, the new realities have already affected poor regions. “The real estate market in such cities as Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma, Perm, Omsk, Cheboksary has revived. All because there "coffin" allow you to buy not 20 square meters, as in Moscow, but a full-fledged apartment. And not even one,” said the head of the Academy of Sciences “Mayak”.