Moscow entered the top 5 countries in terms of luxury housing prices, overtaking London

Moscow has entered the top five capitals of the world in terms of the cost per square meter of premium housing. She rose from 18th to 5th place in the ranking, surpassing even such expensive cities in the world as London, Paris and Shanghai. Such data is provided by analysts at Intermark Urban Real Estate, who analyzed changes in the housing market.

"Over the past year alone, the offer price has increased by 38%. By the end of March 2025, the average price of an elite square meter reached 2 million rubles for the first time. At the same time, demand absorbs such an expensive supply and remains active, showing an annual increase of 46%. The reason for such a rapid price increase over the past year was the favorable conditions for long—term installments, which developers used to support demand by putting costs into the pricing of projects," the study says.

It also notes that by the end of March 2025, the average price of an elite square meter in new buildings reached 2 million rubles for the first time, which exceeds the amount of $ 20 thousand.

"Since March last year, prices for luxury new buildings in rubles have increased by 38%, as a result of which Moscow has jumped over 13 positions in the ranking of the world's cities with the most expensive apartments in new buildings over the past 3 years and shifted from 18th place to 5th. London remained behind, where the price of an elite square is currently $19.7 thousand, Paris with a price of $ 18.6 thousand and Shanghai with a price of $ 19.7 thousand per square meter. Today, the price of luxury housing in the Russian capital is second only to Geneva, New York, Hong Kong and Monaco," the study says.

Dmitry Khalin, Managing Partner and CEO of Intermark Urban Real Estate, explained that the main increase in the average cost per square meter in new buildings, which is observed today, occurred in the period from the second half of last year to the current moment.

"The reasons for such a rapid price increase were the favorable conditions for long-term installments, which developers have been actively offering since last fall. It is worth noting that such tools have long been used in foreign countries, but this is the first time such an experience of interest-free installments has been used in Russia. Moscow is a major luxury housing market, and as soon as financial mechanisms start operating in it, as in other large—scale global markets, prices immediately approach the global ones," he said.

In the first quarter of 2025 alone, 180 deals were concluded in projects of developers offering to make an initial contribution of 20-30%, which is about 52% of all sales in new buildings. The average term of interest-free installments offered by developers of luxury new buildings today is about 1.5-2 years, which means that the last payments are often made already at the completion stage.

"Moreover, it is worth considering that in the last quarter the share of installment transactions was technically reduced, since on New Year's holidays developers offered favorable purchase conditions with a one-time payment, discounts reached 10-20%. Without such promotions, the share of installment purchases would have been 80%," explains Anatoly Dovgan, Director of the Market Monitoring and Evaluation Department at Intermark Urban Real Estate.

According to market representatives, these measures significantly supported demand. According to the results of the first quarter of 2025, the number of initial transactions in the luxury housing market in Moscow exceeded the level of the same period last year by 46%. In total, 347 transactions totaling 71 billion rubles were concluded, which is twice as much as in the same period last year and 4 times more than in the first quarter of 2023.

"The demand for luxury square meters in Moscow is active today. This is largely due to the fact that for some of the audience, foreign markets have become risky or closed. Also, in the last half of the year, we have noted a noticeable increase in demand from the regions. Today, the Moscow market has also become an alternative for buyers from the regions to purchase foreign real estate, as it is an opportunity to acquire a high—quality asset outside their city, and having an apartment in the capital is a symbol of a prosperous life and an opportunity to save capital," explains Dmitry Khalin, Managing Partner and CEO of Intermark Urban Real Estate.

Following the offer price, the average price of the transactions themselves increased. So, by the end of March, the average cost per square meter for which buyers purchased luxury apartments exceeded 1.6 million rubles. Compared to the same period last year, the indicator increased by 33%.