The number of new applications for the purchase of secondary housing in Moscow in the three incomplete weeks of January 2024 decreased by 30-35% on an annualized basis and three times the same period in December. The main reason is high mortgage rates. As a result, there are just few applications for housing loans at the beginning of the year. Realtors told RBC-Real Estate about this, referring to the statistics of their companies.
The demand for the Moscow secondary housing from September to November remained at about the same level. But in December, buyer activity began to decline. According to Inkom-Real Estate, in the last month of the year, demand was about 20% lower than the autumn indicators. In January, the fall intensified, they say in the company: the number of applications for incomplete January turned out to be 35% lower than in the same period last year.
The main reason for the decline in demand is high rates on market mortgages, experts say. According to Dom.RF, as of January 12, the average rate on secondary housing reached 16.94% per annum. High mortgage rates led to a decrease in the share of transactions with ready-made housing and a reduction in the share of mortgages. According to Incom, if in September the share of mortgage transactions in the total volume was 37.4%, then by December it had decreased to 25%. In January, number of mortgage transactions decreased significantly, realtors noted.
“Slowly and sadly, the real estate market is adapting to tight monetary policy. So far, adaptation comes down to a drop in demand, – Sergey Khestanov, economist, associate professor of the RANEPA, said. “The real estate market is very inertial, and for a significant drop in prices, it is necessary (all other things being equal) for the demand to remain low for a couple of years.”