With the Russian ruble continuously gaining against the US dollar in recent weeks, this exchange rate trend has begun moderately influencing the real estate market in Russia, Valery Tumin, country director for Russia and the CIS at fäm Properties, explained to Invest Foresight.
Buyers who have savings in foreign currency find real estate in Russia more affordable now. In fact, property prices have fallen by about 10-15% over the past month in dollar terms. This makes investing in Russian real estate more attractive for foreign investors as well as Russians planning to buy housing abroad, the expert emphasizes.
The resale market has seen burgeoning seller activity, with many sellers willing to offer discounts to accelerate sales and convert the proceeds to foreign currency at a better exchange rate.
“A stronger ruble means lower cost of imported building materials, which could potentially reduce the cost of development. However, as experts note, the prices of materials are not declining fast enough, and developers do not seem eager to revise their pricing policies,” Valery Tumin notes.