Inaccessible walls: the sale period of luxury housing on the secondary market has reached seven years

The maximum period of sale of elite real estate for a number of objects has reached seven years, Izvestia has found out. In general, the average sales period amounted to three years, which is also the highest figure in recent years, market participants said. This is due to the fact that many sellers overestimate the price of an already expensive square meter, experts believe, and the circle of buyers is too narrow. On whether there is a crisis in the market of luxury housing and whether the situation will not become a trend for more mass segments - in the material "Izvestia".

Long sales

Elite real estate cannot be sold for seven years - every 10th apartment in this category has been hanging on for such a period of time, market participants told Izvestia. On average, such objects go away in three years.

Rosreestr of Moscow in 2024 recorded 146.2 thousand transfers of rights in the secondary market - this is 16% less compared to 2023. According to Kalinka ecosystem, demand in the secondary market of high-budget real estate last year fell by 10%.

The average exposure period for luxury housing over several years is 2.7 years. Almost half of the total number of apartments in this segment have not been sold for a long time, and 11% have been on the market for more than seven years.

The premium real estate market is undergoing a transformation: the houses that were considered elite 10-20 years ago are now largely obsolete, said Victor Timofeev, commercial director of the developer Siyaniye.

- Old parking lots, outdated entrance groups, non-ergonomic layouts - all this makes many secondary market properties less attractive to modern buyers," he told Izvestia.

There is a correlation between the price and the period of exposure of the object, but not always the most expensive is sold for the longest time, explained Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of GC "Stilobat" Bulat Alimov.

- The main deals in the deluxe segment begin, as a rule, when the residential complex is already fully built. It should also be noted that there is a waiting list for exclusive objects, which developers are still planning to realize," he said.

Now the elite segment includes premium class and deluxe class apartments, reminded the general director of "Ricci | Residential Real Estate" Ekaterina Lomteva. In her opinion, the stagnation was formed in the deluxe segment, where on average only more than 30% of apartments are sold at the time of commissioning.

- The deluxe segment is characterized by very high purchase budgets due to both the large area of lots and the high price per square meter," she added. - Today it is 1.5-4 million rubles.

In 2024, the main demand was for apartments of 100-125 square meters. meters. meters. The average cost for 2024 amounted to 141.6 million rubles - it is 14% more than in 2023 (124 million rubles). The average cost of apartments on the elite market amounted to 150.6 million rubles (+17% for the year), for apartments - 97 million rubles (-4% for the year).

Why sales take years

Long terms of sale of elite real estate in the secondary market may be due to the specifics of the segment, but there are a number of other significant factors, said real estate expert Evgeny Tkachev.

- Firstly, a narrow circle of buyers, - he said. - Elite housing is not purchased out of necessity, but rather as an investment object, status property or a place to live with special requirements. Accordingly, the demand is limited. Buyers themselves are preserving capital here. Secondly, the cost and expectations of sellers: the owners of elite objects rarely go for significant discounts, preferring to wait for a buyer who is ready to buy an apartment at the stated price.

In the elite segment, the owner and the future buyer evaluate the object of sale based on the currency equivalent of the ruble price, added Roman Rodiontsev, Development Director of Est-a-Tet.

- Nevertheless, for the seller it is a price based on the dollar exchange rate a few years ago, and for the buyer - based on the current situation, - he explained. - In this place can come a serious divergence of views of the seller and the potential buyer, because in ruble terms the buyer is presented with a fairly wide choice of alternatives for investment.

Nailya Abaidulina, Head of the Point Estate Urban Real Estate Department, explained that the inflated price is explained by the fact that sellers in the elite segment have no pressing need for money, they can afford to wait.

- When buyers are not found, and the apartment is washed out, it begins to be perceived as lying goods, with which no one wants to deal, - said the expert. - Mostly it concerns objects bought quite a long time ago, when the ruble exchange rate against the dollar was two or three times less. It is psychologically difficult for sellers to fix losses, to recognize the ruble reality and the fact that their elite apartment is no longer considered as such and there is nothing unique in it for a long time.

Elite housing is bought by top managers of large companies, big businessmen, added Elena Komissarova, General Director of BEL Development Group of Companies. The buyer's portrait is getting younger - they are popular bloggers, specialists in mobile offerings, and crypto-investors. Most often, according to her, such real estate is taken for the purpose of investment and capital growth, and transactions are conducted through brokers.

But if 2022 was quite sluggish in the elite segment of new buildings, in the current situation it has additional incentives, added Denis Bobkov, head of marketing and analytics at Asterus. After the introduction of Western sanctions, wealthy people had difficulties with withdrawal of funds outside Russia, so the money began to stay in the country and invested, including in elite housing.

- In this regard, the market has revived: those projects that were introduced two or three years ago, now have better opportunities to sell off the remainder, and those that are introduced now, have chances to realize 70-80% at once and for the next year the rest, - he said.

In general, the situation in the elite real estate market rarely affects other segments, believes Evgeny Tkachev, affecting primarily the mass sector.