Russia is seeing a push to erect smaller apartment buildings with the aim of lowering costs and expanding access to housing. Yet the practical outcome often runs counter to this intention. URA.RU spoke with Ekaterina Nikitina, the vice president of the Moscow Association of Realtors, who weighed in on the issue.
Nikitina notes that over the past decade the average living space in new flats has steadily contracted while property values have continued to rise. This combination creates a paradox: smaller spaces at higher prices, which influences buyer expectations and market dynamics in tangible ways.
Developers shrink apartment sizes to keep sticker prices down and to accelerate sales, enabling buyers to secure homes more quickly. However, this approach can fuel a cycle where increased demand and rising prices pressure buyers to save longer and stretch farther. As a result, the initial savings from smaller layouts may be offset by the need for larger total expenditures later, prompting the market to revisit smaller designs in hopes of quicker turnover. Nikitina describes this sequence as a misaligned logic that undermines its own goals.
Evgeny Shlemenkov, vice president of Opora Rossii and head of the Construction, Housing and Communal Services department, confirms that this trend is visible across the country, with Moscow showing the sharpest and most rapid response from developers. The capital’s market has often acted as a bellwether, shaping attitudes and strategies elsewhere in Russia.
Murtazaev, the director of operations at Ox Capital, offers a forecast that the pattern will persist. He projects that the average price of a one-bedroom unit in Moscow could rise to about ten million rubles in the near future, up from eight million currently. He also notes that a large share of Moscow apartments is being purchased through concessional mortgage programs, which can influence buyers to prioritize affordability in the near term while leaving overall price growth a dominant factor over the life of the loan.
Earlier warnings from DOM.RF experts highlighted a broader issue regarding the accessibility of new developments in Russia. The conversation around mortgage lending has been sensitive, with observers noting shifts in policy and lending conditions that affect the pace at which buyers can secure housing. In this context, changes in mortgage issuance have the potential to reshape demand patterns and pricing trajectories across major cities.