Muscovites have become less interested in buying housing for investment

Muscovites are increasingly buying real estate for their own living rather than for investment. Over the past two years, investment demand in the Moscow new building market has decreased 4.7 times. This is stated in the results of a study by NDV Real Estate Supermarket and OCTOBER GROUP, which were reviewed by Izvestia on May 29. But in the expensive segments, it remains at a higher level.

So, if the share of investment transactions in the comfort class barely exceeds 2%, then in the premium segment this figure is 7.6%.

Two years ago, amid high demand and rising prices for new buildings, investors actively invested in real estate. In the first four months of 2023, every fifth transaction in the capital's primary market was for the purpose of investment. In the same period of 2025, 95.4% of purchases are made for themselves and their families. The most significant decrease in investment demand — by eight times, from 17.5% to 2.2% — is noted in the comfort class. At the same time, the share of investment transactions in the business class has decreased 4.3 times in two years and amounts to 6.5%, and in the premium segment — 2.5 times, to 7.6% of the total number of purchases.

Buy by selling: the demand for trade-in when buying apartments increased by 25%

What risks does this mechanism have for those who want to improve their living conditions

"The share of investment demand for premium new buildings and business class is 3-3.5 times higher than for comfort class apartments. This is due to the peculiarity of investment strategies in the high-budget and democratic segment. Investors in mass housing are focused on quick resale, so they actively invest only during periods when prices are rising by 20-30% per year," said Yuri Kogan, commercial director of OCTOBER GROUP.

According to him, in the expensive segments, the goal is to create a portfolio of assets that will show growth in the long term. Therefore, some projects in these segments show even higher investment demand.

Experts noted that attention to the pace of construction is confirmed by the fact that most of the investment transactions are currently taking place at the middle stage of construction readiness, when investors can verify the reality of the deadlines announced by the developer. According to analysts, in the first four months of 2025, up to 50% of all purchases occurred in the middle of construction.

Despite the slowdown in price growth, taking into account the high key interest rate and the rise in mortgage prices, new buildings as a whole remain quite an attractive asset.

"Long-term deposits now bring in from 19 to 22% per annum. At the same time, the weighted average price in the primary housing market increased by 17% over the year. Taking into account the official annual inflation, the real increase was 15%, and to this indicator we can add the future rental yield, which averages 8-10%," explained Elena Chegodaeva, head of the analytics and consulting department at NDV Real Estate Supermarket.

Earlier, on May 16, it was reported that one in five Russians would like to put up a cottage for sale in order to buy an apartment in the capital. At the same time, one in three (33%) estimates their suburban real estate in the amount of 6 million to 10 million rubles, according to the results of a study by Level Group.