The most noticeable increase in price this year was the rental of one-room apartments (+25% per year, on average up to 25 thousand rubles) and studios (+19% per year, on average up to 25 thousand rubles). ). The average rental cost of two-room apartments increased by 6.7% (to 32 thousand rubles), three-room apartments remained unchanged (still 45 thousand rubles). These statistics were provided by Konstantin Kamenev, head of the long-term rental category at Avito Real Estate.
socialbites.ca’s trend was confirmed by Tsian.Analytics expert Elena Lapshina. According to their data, the cost of renting a one-room apartment in Russia in February 2024 will be 30% more on average than a year ago.
“If last year was a standard seasonal trend in which rental prices fell after a period of rapid growth before Christmas, this year in many cities rates did not fall, but either entered a recession or continued to increase slowly,” Lapshina said.
Why did the rent increase?
Kamenev explained these price dynamics by three factors:
- At the beginning of 2024, the demand for rental housing decreased, but significantly less than the supply of rental apartments (-1.3% per year in the demand structure, -23.1% in the supply structure).
- Due to increasing mortgage loan interest rates (in some cases up to 25% per year) Some Russians have started to turn to long-term rentals.
- Inflation leads to higher rental rates for real estate every year (According to Rosstat, inflation in Russia amounted to 7.42% on an annual basis at the end of last year).
“Against the background of high mortgage rates – especially in the secondary market, where there are no concessional loan programs – many potential apartment buyers have become interested in renting. Exposure is gradually decreasing and therefore more expensive options remain on the market,” commented Kamenev.
According to him, at the beginning of 2024, a situation has developed in the rental segment in which the average cost is increasing and Russians are turning to more compact apartments, which leads to an increase in prices for these options.
According to Kamenev, among cities with a population of over one million, the most noticeable increase in average rental prices took place in Chelyabinsk (+51.5% on an annual basis), Moscow (+48.7%) and Perm (+44.4%). At the same time, the average hiring rate showed the weakest growth in Rostov-on-Don (+13%) and Voronezh (+17.6%).
What will the rental prices be?
According to Lapshina’s prediction, those who cannot buy an apartment under the new conditions will continue to enter the rental market, which means that rental prices will not decrease.
“The resumption of the increase in rental rates in Moscow, which was hit hardest by the reduction in preferential mortgage limits, is one of the indicators of such a trend (in Moscow, the preferential mortgage limit fell by half – to 6 million rubles),” said Lapshina.
Oksana Polyakova, deputy director of the apartment rental department of the INCOM-Real Estate company, told socialbites.ca that average rental rates during the year increased the most in the Central Administrative District of Moscow – by 26.4% (to 69.5 thousand rubles). February 2024) and in the South-Western Region (+24.8%, up to 45.3 thousand rubles) and in the Eastern Administrative District (+24.5%, up to 41.1 thousand rubles).
“The cheapest options were instantly withdrawn from the market, their share in the overall composition decreased and, accordingly, the average rental cost increased. The withdrawal of economic options from the market also affected the overall supply volume: it decreased by 66% in 2023. Now the supply has gradually begun to be restored, but it is too early to talk about restoration, since the most affordable apartments are immediately rented out,” said Polyakova.
Olga Pavlinova, director of the rental department of the federal company Etazhi, noted in an interview with socialbites.ca that currently in the rental market in Russia there is a clear imbalance between the expectations of tenants and the actual rental rate.
“Further growth in rates will lead to an even greater shift of demand from central locations in major cities to the outskirts. We should most likely expect rental rates to stabilize at current levels and stop growing in the spring. Pavlinova stated that traditionally a new wave of growth will emerge in the second half of summer.
Mortgage broker Dmitry Rakuta predicted an increase in rental prices in Russia until significant rate changes and lowering of secondary housing mortgage rates occur.
“Until then, rent increases will be gradual, systematic and rents will increase. But in any case, there are seasonal factors in rental real estate. This is the autumn-winter period when the rental rate rises,” Rakuta explained.
How to save on rent
According to Pavlinova, the main thing when renting an apartment is to make a rational choice based on real needs.
“These may be new areas with good transport accessibility, but are less popular with tenants. You should also negotiate carefully, especially before signing a long-term lease. In addition, you should pay attention to how utilities are paid and by whom; using meters You can easily save money when paying for utilities,” Pavlinova suggested.
Rakuta advised the apartment owner to split the deposit over several months, extend it so as not to pay the entire month at once, and provide a guaranteed payment (usually tenants pay a deposit for the last month and this deposit is refunded). when they leave the apartment).
“Many business owners prefer this. Secondly, these are the terms of the lease. The longer the lease term, the more likely the owner will compromise on monthly payments, the broker added.
According to Lapshina, the most obvious option to save on rent is to look for apartments in more affordable areas of the city. The expert added that renting a room is worth considering if this option is not suitable and the budget is limited.
“Cheap options can be found in traditionally remote areas: in Moscow, for example, if you need to get to a metro station or MCC by road, the rental cost can be reduced by 5-20% depending on the duration of work. trip,” Polyakova explained.
He added that most tenants were looking for one-room and two-room economy class apartments, but there were no options at the old prices, so customers began to combine and rent housing together more often, for which there were 30% more applications. Rentals in 2024 are higher than at the beginning of 2023.
“To save money, you can rent a poor-quality apartment: if there is no repair or there are malfunctions, the rental price can be reduced by 10-40%, depending on the severity and scale of the damage. Polyakova advised that there are options for renting housing “for renovation” in case the finishing or repair work is transferred to tenants (the rent can be reduced or canceled completely during the work).