According to the results of the past year, Turkey became the most popular foreign country among Russians for buying real estate and moving. One in three requests from Russia fell on this country. Its share in the overall structure of demand for foreign real estate amounted to 32.78%. Such data was provided by analysts of General Immigration, migration division of the international group of companies Propriete Generale Group.
The United Arab Emirates became the second most popular direction among Russian investors from January to December 2022 with a demand share of 22.43%. The main demand was oriented to the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Another 13.41% of Russians when choosing a country for buying real estate and relocation chose Cyprus, its northern part.
Also in the top 5 leading countries, where our compatriots sought and bought objects of real estate, we find Portugal with a demand share of 7.33% and Greece with 4.84%.
“In 2022, the largest activity in the foreign real estate market was noted twice – in March-April and at the end of September-October after partial mobilization announcements. During these periods, many people tried to move to neighboring countries where Russians do not need a visa. As a result – among the most popular countries for the purchase of real estate in 2022 there were Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. Share of each of them amounted to 1 – 3% in the total volume of demand, although in some months, for example, in March-April, Kazakhstan and Georgia accounted for up to 15% from the total volume of applications”, Ivan Yarinkovsky, senior partner and co-owner of Propriete Generale Group, said.
According to Propriete Generale Group, 64.1% of Russians buying foreign real estate in 2022, pursued the goal of obtaining a residence permit or citizenship of a foreign country. Another 15.7% considered real estate abroad for their own residence, 14.3% were interested in buying real estate for investment purposes, 5.9% combined the goals of living and investments.
“As in 2021, Russians are considering buying real estate abroad preferably to obtain in Europe a residence permit or a second passport. However, due to restrictions given worsening geopolitical situation, alternative directions are becoming more and more popular such as UAE, Thailand, Serbia, Indonesia, Argentina, and Brazil”, Alex Alekseev, head of the Russian-speaking direction of General Immigration, added.
From the point of view of the regions, residents of Moscow were, interested most of all in buying real estate abroad in terms of 2022, their share was 44.7% in the general structure of demand, St. Petersburg gained 21.8%, Novosibirsk region amounted to 9.8%, Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region gained 8.2%.