Russians have sharply reduced the amount of discounts on apartment sales

The average haggling rate for the sale of ready-made housing in Russian megacities dropped sharply in January to 4.8%. This was told to Izvestia by the federal company Floors.

"The average amount of discounts that residents of Russian megacities were willing to provide to real buyers when selling ready—made housing grew steadily in the first half of last year, and by July reached record levels of 6.5% of the initial price for which apartments were offered for sale. In the second half of the year, amid rising demand, a wave—like decline in the average bidding level began," said Alexander Ivanov, a leading analyst at the federal company Floors.

According to him, despite the reduction in the average discount, about 85-90% of apartments sold on the secondary market are sold at a discount.

"Those home buyers who are actively looking for apartments are mostly focused on apartments sold at the maximum discount, so they are looking at 1.5–2 times more objects than a year ago, and they bargain harder with sellers. However, owners who felt a temporary revival in demand in the second half of last year are not always ready to accept large discounts," Ivanov continues.

The company's experts have compiled a rating of the largest cities in Russia with the most significant decrease in the level of discounts compared to January last year, comparing the initial price of the object in the sale announcement with its final value in the purchase agreement.

Krasnodar took the first place, where the average discount rate for the year decreased from 8.9% to 3.4%. Krasnoyarsk is in second place, with a drop from 8.3% to 3.7%. Yekaterinburg is in third place, where the average discount decreased from 6.7% to 3.1%. This is followed by Chelyabinsk (a decrease from 8.4 to 6.4%), Novosibirsk (from 6.1 to 4.3%), Omsk (from 5.8 to 4.7%), Voronezh (from 4.7 to 3.7%), Ufa (from 6.6 to 5.9%) and Samara (from 4.4 to 3.9%).

The average discount rate for the sale of second-hand apartments increased only in St. Petersburg (from 2.2% to 3.4%), Moscow (from 3.7% to 4.8%), Kazan (from 2.6% to 3.5%) and Perm (from 4% to 4.8%). In other megacities, it remained at the level of January last year.

"The secondary housing market reacts to an increase in consumer activity, first by reducing the discount, then by rising prices. Now a lot will depend on how the availability of market mortgages will change in the future for 2-6 months. As mortgage rates decrease, accumulated pent-up demand will begin to be realized, which may trigger a further reduction in discounts and an increase in the average cost of second homes. The more confidently mortgage rates decrease, the more actively prices will rise," the expert concluded.

Studio price: the cost of renting a home decreased in 13 cities over the year

This situation has developed against the background of an increase in the volume of supply

Earlier, on December 25, 2025, it was reported that in December, in half of Russia's million-plus cities, the cost per square meter on the secondary market remained virtually unchanged or decreased. According to analysts of the Yandex Real Estate service, the median price of a "square" averaged 149 thousand rubles in megacities, an increase of only 0.7% compared to November.

Price increases were recorded in seven cities, the most noticeable in Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow, while stagnation was observed in nine megacities, and a decrease was noted only in Voronezh. At the same time, the supply of second homes decreased by 2.6% on average, which analysts attributed to increased demand and increased discounts from sellers.

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