Experts explained the growing demand for housing in Moscow

In February, demand for housing in Moscow increased, exceeding the figures for the same month in 2024. The number of transactions with ready—made housing increased by 13% year-on-year, and in the real estate market under construction - by 63%, according to information from Metrium, which was reviewed by Izvestia on March 20. Experts analyzed the data from the Federal Register of the Capital and explained the reason for such customer interest.

In the last winter month of this year, the number of transactions in the housing market under construction amounted to 7.8 thousand equity participation agreements (LDA), in February 2024, the figure was 4.8 thousand LDA. Compared to January 2025, the number of agreements increased by 29%.

"The growth in demand for new buildings in Moscow in February is associated with increased activity of business class and higher home buyers who use installments as an alternative to expensive mortgages. For this category of clients, credit conditions are less important than the opportunity to purchase a liquid asset. The share of installments in Moscow's primary market has almost quadrupled over the year, to 40%," said Dmitry Golev, Optima Development's Commercial Director.

Also, according to him, there is a return of investors from foreign housing markets, who expect prices to rise in premium new buildings. At the same time, the number of transactions increased in the mass segment due to the reduction of bank fees on family mortgages.

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In the ready-made housing market (taking into account the commissioned new buildings and secondary housing) in February 2025, 12.1 thousand purchase and sale agreements were registered, at the same time in 2024 there were 10.7 thousand transactions. Relative to January 2025, demand increased by 27% (9.5 thousand agreements).

"In February, activity in the ready-made housing market is supported by several factors. On the one hand, clients with access to a family mortgage prefer to purchase apartments in new buildings that have already been commissioned. On the other hand, developers stimulate demand by providing discounts on ready-made housing, which usually amount to 10-15%. Finally, alternative transactions and exchange schemes are widely used in the secondary market to minimize or completely eliminate the use of mortgages," explained Larisa Shvetsova, General Director of River Park LLC.

At the same time, 11.0 thousand loan transactions were registered in the mortgage market, which is 14% more than in the same month in 2024 (9.7 thousand), and 44% more than in January 2025 (7.7 thousand).

"We see steady growth in demand in both the primary and secondary markets, which indicates a gradual adaptation to current economic conditions. The increase in mortgage rates is offset by installment payment tools, discounts from developers, and special mortgage programs. There is still a high interest from investors who see Moscow real estate as a reliable tool for saving capital," concluded Ruslan Syrtsov, Managing Director of Metrium.

Earlier, on February 5, it was reported that almost half of the Russians surveyed linked their plans in 2025 with the solution of the housing issue. One in eight (12%) plans to start saving and saving money to buy a home, 10% of respondents plan to sell an apartment, according to the results of a study by Level Group.