For the first time in three years, Europe has become the leader in demand for real estate among Russians

Following the results of the three quarters of 2025, the demand of Russians shifted to European countries, mainly the Schengen area. This situation has been observed for the first time since 2022, the Intermark Global foreign real estate agency told Izvestia on October 9.

Analysts said that the share of home purchases in Europe from January to September 2025 was 41%, which is 11 percentage points higher than the same indicator last year. This situation was influenced by the growing interest of Russians in transactions for the purpose of obtaining a residence permit — 54% of transactions in 2025 compared to 48% last year.

The demand for Southeast Asian countries has shifted to the second position of the rating with a share of 32%, and the third place is occupied by the Middle East, where the share of demand has increased to 17%.

Turkey remains in fourth place with an unchanged share of 6%. In general, the demand for foreign real estate returned to the indicators until 2022, showing a decrease of 35% after the hype of the last three years. However, in 2025, the average transaction receipt increased by 27%. Russians' demand for foreign real estate continues to stabilize.

"From January to September 2025, we are witnessing a 35% decrease in demand for real estate in foreign countries compared to last year. However, it would be a mistake to talk about a falling market, rather, we note stabilization after the unhealthy hype of the last 2.5 years," explained Irina Mosheva, Managing Partner of Intermark Global.

She added that buyers have become more selective, shifting interest towards high-quality locations and more expensive projects, as evidenced by a 27% increase in the average transaction receipt, which compares the periods from January to September 2025 to January-September 2024.

Thus, according to the results of the first nine months of 2025, European countries became the leader in demand for foreign real estate among Russians for the first time since 2022. They accounted for 41% of the total number of transactions compared to 30% last year. The countries of the Schengen area such as France, Cyprus, Spain, Slovenia, and Portugal are of the greatest interest.

"First of all, when considering the purchase of real estate in Europe, our compatriots are interested not so much in the investment attractiveness of the property, but rather in the possibility of obtaining EU immigration status without additional restrictions in the form of the need to reside in these countries. Such transactions allow you to obtain a residence permit and open up opportunities for freer movement around the world and financial navigation," Mosheva noted.

The expert pointed out that Cyprus demonstrates the most stable indicator of demand among Russians with a share of 6% of all transactions with foreign real estate against 4% a year earlier. This situation has led to a change in the ratio of investment and immigration transactions: there has been a noticeable increase in interest in the possibility of obtaining immigration status, for which real estate is rented or purchased. If in January-September 2024 such transactions accounted for 48% of the total volume, then in 2025 their share increased to 54%. At the same time, the number of transactions with foreign real estate exclusively for investment or own residence decreased from 52% to 46%.

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Pioneer analysts told Izvestia on September 24 that, following the results of the first eight months of this year, there is a steady downward trend in demand for small-sized formats in the capital's premium new buildings market. According to them, interest in spacious real estate is currently recovering, which is why the average area of the sold property has increased from 72.8 square meters. m up to 77.5 sq. m .

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