Prices for secondary housing have fallen in cities with over a million residents

In August, several striking trends gained momentum on the national secondary housing market. In many cities with a population of over a million, a drop in the average price of a lot was recorded. And given high inflation, the real price of 1 square meter is also decreasing in most regions. In addition, at the end of last summer, the area of ​​apartments put up for sale on the secondary market began to "dry up" in the same way as on the primary market.

According to Pavel Lutsenko, CEO of the Mir Kvartir portal, who compared the dynamics of prices for secondary housing in 70 major cities across the country, residential real estate prices increased the most in Sevastopol (+3.5%), Cheboksary (+3.4%), Perm (+3.3%), Kursk (+3%) and Ryazan (+2.4%) in August. They fell the most in Leningrad Oblast (–3.6%), Volzhsky (–2.6%), Yakutsk (–2.6%), Chita (–2.2%) and cities in Moscow Oblast (–1.9%).

In the capitals, the dynamics were also negative: in Moscow, the square meter lost 1.3%, in St. Petersburg - 0.5% (see table). "Prices in the capital region and in the city on the Neva fell in May and June, then in July they rebounded somewhat, and in August the decline continued. Most likely, with the current price level and the inaccessibility of mortgage programs, consumer demand cannot support further growth," the expert believes.

Over the last summer month, the average lot price increased in 38 out of 70 cities, decreased in 31, and remained unchanged in one. The largest increase was found in Perm (+4.6%), Cheboksary (+4.4%), Grozny (+4.4%), Ulyanovsk (+3.9%), and Ivanovo (+3.6%). The largest price drop was in the Moscow Region (–8.3%), Moscow (–5.5%), Leningrad Region (–4.7%), Kaluga (–4.1%), and Krasnoyarsk (–4.1%). In Moscow, the lot price fell by an average of 5.5% over the month, and by 1.5% in St. Petersburg.

According to Oleg Repchenko, head of the Analytical Center for Real Estate Market Indicators, today the secondary housing market is being “pulled” by buyers with real money. People who have increased their savings thanks to deposits, the rates on which have been and are on average more than 20%, often enter into transactions. “It turns out that if a person did not buy an apartment a year ago, but buys it, for example, not even now, but in a year, then over these two years the savings on the deposit will increase by about 40%. And this is equivalent to an implicit decrease in the original price by about 30%. So it turns out that the decline in housing prices is in full swing. Only it is implicit in nature, and is happening largely due to inflation. Nevertheless, this is rather a positive trend, since this state of affairs allows us to avoid a sharp collapse of the real estate market and the collapse of an inflated bubble,” the analyst emphasized.

In addition to the real (taking into account inflation) reduction in lot prices, experts have also recorded another striking trend: the area of ​​apartments listed for sale on the secondary market is shrinking just like on the primary market. "In the last month of summer alone, the average property lost 0.5 sq. m, and now the size of an apartment is 52.9 sq. m," Lutsenko emphasized. He highlighted another important trend: in August, the supply decreased by 10%. Probably, owners of apartments and flats have again begun to transfer their housing to the rental market in anticipation of the autumn price rally.

Published in the newspaper "Moskovsky Komsomolets" No. 29602 of September 9, 2025

Newspaper headline: With an eye on inflation