Premium new builds in Moscow have achieved record-breaking sales in Q2 2024, with developers selling a remarkable 86,500 square metres of luxury housing. This represents a 27% increase on Q1 2024 and a staggering 90% rise compared to the same period last year. These figures and other findings for Q2 in the residential property market were revealed by analysts at PIONEER.

The total volume of transactions for apartments and flats on the Moscow primary market between April and June 2024 reached 920,000 square metres, marking a 35% rise from Q1 of this year.

One key driver of this surge in demand was the impending end of a popular subsidised mortgage programme. Buyers were keen to finalise transactions under the existing favourable conditions. This trend was most noticeable in the ‘comfort’ segment, where demand increased by 1.5 times compared to Q1 2024. Overall, mortgage-backed transactions accounted for 73% of Moscow’s residential property market in Q2 2024, up 10 percentage points from Q1.

High sales volumes were also noted in the premium segment, where the availability of subsidised mortgages has less influence on buyer decisions. This segment recorded the highest sales in the past five years, totalling 86,500 square metres over three months. For context, quarterly sales in 2022 ranged between 25,000 and 27,000 square metres. In 2023, demand for premium apartments grew from 30,000 square metres in Q1 to 82,000 square metres in Q4. One-fifth of the demand in Q2 2024 was driven by new entries to the market within the last six months, including PIONEER’s premium residential complex SHIFT near Neskuchny Garden and the new tower in the PRIDE family premium residential quarter in the Maryina Roshcha district.

“Strong sales performance in Q2 2024 allowed developers to increase prices more actively than in Q1. As a result, the average price for apartments (excluding the elite class) saw an uptick of 7%, reaching 485,600 roubles per square metre. Average prices rose across all segments, with comfort class up by 6%, business class by 3%, and premium class by 8%,” noted Ekaterina Petrova, Analytics and Marketing Concepts Executive at PIONEER.

It is worth highlighting that developers continuously launched new projects in response to robust demand. Q2 saw the commencement of sales in 22 projects across all classes. A total of 35 new projects were launched on the primary market in the first half of the year, including five elite complexes in the pre-sale phase. Last year, this figure stood at just 26 projects.

The bulk of offerings remain in the business-class segment, which accounts for 47% of the market. Meanwhile, the premium class constitutes a mere 14%.