Residential real estate market overview h1 2010

According to the results of the first half of 2010 the supply volume in the residential market of Moscow declined and amounted to 200 houses (1.07 mln. sq. m.). Supply volume reduction is connected with a temporary suspense of sales in several complexes and also sales completion in new buildings, where single offers remained. In the first half of 2010 a considerable raise of buyers' activity both in the primary and in the secondary market was recorded. Besides, a positive price dynamics was noticed. In June 2010 the average price in the secondary residential market in Moscow amounted to 175,6 rubles per sq. m. ($5,650 per sq. m.). The average price in the primary market reached 161,7 thous. rub. per sq. m. ($5,200 per sq. m.). On the whole, the growth of the average dollar prices amounted to 4-5%, ruble prices to 9-10% by the results of the first half of 2010.   

By the end of the first part of 2010 the supply volume in the elite primary market amounted to 164, 8 thous. sq. m. of residential space in 30 elite complexes.  In the secondary market the salesmen' activity dropped with the approach of summer season, new supply volume decreased. Demand displayed a positive trend. The number of concluded deals by the results of Q2 2010 exceeds the Q1 index by 25%. Buyers' growth of interest in the primary market properties became a notable trend of the first half of 2010. However, no demand boom can be observed. Buyers behave very accurately, considering all pros and cons before the acquisition of this or that property. By the end of June 2010 the average prices for the elite residential space of Moscow amounted to $ 17, 480 per sq. m. in the primary market and $ 22 950 per sq. m. in the secondary market. On the whole, since the beginning of the year the prices in the elite residential market of Moscow increased 2-3% in dollars and 7-8% in rubles.

Two stages may be singled out in the development of the elite lease market in the 1^st half of 2010:

• - tenants' growth of activity in Q1, traditionally connected with the reconsideration of the current agreements and inflow of new customers in Moscow;
• - some activity decrease in Q2 due to seasonal "lull" of the lease market in this period.

During the whole first half of 2010 the rates in the elite lease market were growing. The rates growth for the 1^st half of 2010 amounted to a little bit more than 15%, the average level reached $7, 650 per apartment per month. 

Seasonality had the main impact on the elite cottage lease market during the 1^st half of 2010. The peak of market activity was noticed in March-May as before. Demand for cottages lease was rather high by analogy with the city lease market. For the 1^st half of 2010 the average level of elite cottage rent increased 20%. By the end of June 2010 the average level of elite cottages rent was $14, 000 per month, reaching the indexes of the middle of the previous year. 

In the 1^st half of 2010, stability and gradual recovery of the market were characteristic of the countryside residential real estate market of Moscow Region. As opposed to the previous year, the number of deals increased, potential buyers became more active, which is expressed in the growth of number of calls and demonstrations by the countryside residential real estate properties, and developers announce their future plans concerning the implementation of new countryside settlements or the "unfreezing" of the properties, the construction of which was put on hold for the crisis period.

In the 1^st half of 2010 the mass entrance of land plots without building contracts continued: 78% of 33 projects, which entered the elite countryside residential real estate market of Moscow Region during the analyzed period, offered for sale land plots without building contracts.

A general situation in the wholesale land market of Moscow Region remains stable: the supply volume is still very high, at the same time the number of deals is small. The main resources of supply in this segment are lands, which are intended for the development of mega-projects, and also deposit assets of both the development structures, passing to banks, and assets of private persons, passing for debts.