Pandemic and emigration doubled the number of hereditary apartments in Moscow

Yulia Suntsova

The heirs of those who died from the coronavirus have already come into their own and began to alienate the property bequeathed to them. We are talking about the so-called "fresh" inheritance - apartments that have been in the possession of the heirs for less than three years are being put up for sale.

Hereditary real estate is not included in the list of liquid properties - buyers are wary of it, every third client refuses to consider this option.

Nevertheless, about 60% of such objects are put up for sale immediately, the owners do not even wait for the expiration of three years to get rid of the tax burden (in the event that they are not direct relatives).

The remaining 40% of the inherited housing is rented, and after just these three years, half of the rented apartments - the so-called "old inheritance" is also put up for sale.

“From year to year, approximately the same number of lots is supplied to the secondary market, since housing issues are associated with stages of human life - marriage, birth, death. Unfortunately, in extreme epidemiological conditions, the above changes have occurred. We are talking about the so-called fresh inheritance - apartments owned for less than 3 years after the inheritance was registered, ”says Sergey Shloma, Director of the Department of Secondary Apartments of INKOM-Real Estate.

During the last year, 65% of the exhibited rental housing of the year is also represented by living space inherited by the owners, follows from the research of real estate agencies.

“Indeed, some of the inherited apartments are rented out for three years and then sold. But a significant share of our clients prefers to leave this living space as an asset, suggesting, in turn, to pass it on by inheritance, ”says Oksana Polyakova, deputy director of the company's apartment rental department.

Lawyers have always warned buyers against purchasing inherited apartments. The main risk is the emergence of an unaccounted heir claiming a share in the inheritance. In addition, the unexpected appearance of a will, which outperforms the heirs or the distribution of their shares, as well as the likelihood of challenging the existing will.

The only insurance maneuver of realtors today is a notarized statement by the heir-seller that after the alienation of the apartment, in the event of unaccounted heirs or challenging the will, he undertakes to compensate the injured party for its share in the sold hereditary apartment at his own expense. However, even such a statement can be challenged in court.

Despite the very tangible risks of hereditary apartments, real estate experts foreshadow a further increase in the number of transactions with such housing.

80% of the deaths from COVID-19 in Russia are elderly people.

"We have a group of people over 65, who, unfortunately, also today in the Russian Federation make up more than 80% of the total number of deaths from coronavirus infection," Anna Popova, head of Rospotrebnadzor, said in a comment to TASS.

According to Yandex statistics as of October 25, 2021, in Moscow there are only registered deaths from coronavirus - 30 786.

According to Rosstat, in 2020, in the age group over 60, 300.2 thousand more people died than in 2019, and most of the deaths are associated with the consequences of coronavirus infection.

Historical maximums in Moscow on the transfer of rights to secondary housing are also recorded by Rosreestr.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, more than 55.6 thousand transfers of rights to secondary housing were registered in Moscow. The October-December 2020 indicator became a new all-time high that exceeded the previous record recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018 (50.7 thousand), according to the Rosreestr website.

At the same time, in December 2020 alone, over 20.1 thousand transfers of property rights under agreements of sale and purchase (exchange) of secondary real estate were registered in Moscow. More than 20 thousand registrations in the secondary market of the capital took place for the first time in one month. The result of November 2020 was exceeded by 18% (it was 17 thousand), the result of December 2019 - by 27% (it was 15.78 thousand).

In addition to excess mortality among the elderly, the housing market during a pandemic is undergoing shifts and due to such a factor as rush demand - against this background, liquid supply is basically washed out.

The tendency with a doubled supply of hereditary housing in the capital's housing market, at the same time, may become one more weighty argument of the fighters against infill development and opponents of new construction in the “non-rubber” territory.

“300 thousand people leave Russia a year. These are only those who hand over their passports before departure. At least another 500 thousand leave without handing over their passports. And we also have more deaths than births, by 700-800 thousand per year. The country loses 1.5 million people annually, ”writes Prof. Preobrazhensky's telegram channel.

Some emigrate, others die prematurely (and yet it is still far from the victory over the pandemic, new waves are only updating mortality records). Old housing is being emptied rapidly. So does the capital need so much new housing?