The share of mortgages in the secondary housing market in Russia has doubled

The share of mortgage transactions in the secondary housing market in Russia has more than doubled compared to January last year, the federal company "Floors" told Izvestia on February 8.

"January last year, due to high mortgage market rates and the lack of signals for their reduction in the first half of the year, there was a record decrease in the share of mortgages when buying ready-made housing to 18.7%," recalls Tatyana Reshetnikova, deputy head of the mortgage department at the federal company Floors.

According to her, many of those who needed better housing conditions preferred to take a wait-and-see attitude, and put the money they had accumulated to buy an apartment into deposits at the high interest rates that existed at that time. This led to a sharp reduction in the share of mortgage transactions in the secondary market.

"The gradual recovery of activity in lending for the purchase of second homes began in the first quarter of last year. An active and stable growth in the share of mortgage purchases in the secondary market was noted in the second half of last year immediately after the Central Bank lowered its key interest rate. Many began to purchase apartments at a discount, even with expensive mortgages, hoping to refinance such loans in the future," the expert continues.

In the suburban real estate market in Russia, the share of mortgage transactions increased even more significantly due to preferential loans: 2.6 times, from 18.8% in January last year to 48.3% in January 2026. In new buildings — by 1.4 times, from 57.8% to 80.7%. In general, for all segments of the real estate market over the same period, the share of mortgages increased 1.9 times, from 30.9% to 57.5%.

"If the key rate continues to decrease at the next meeting of the Central Bank in February, the share of mortgages in the secondary and suburban real estate markets may grow by another 6-8% in the coming months," the expert summed up.

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On January 22, the head of the Ministry of Regional Development, Alexei Chekunkov, announced that the Far Eastern and Arctic Mortgage program was going to be extended to the secondary market in localities where new housing had not been built for the past 20 years. The program allows you to get a housing loan at a rate of 2% per annum and is valid from 2019 for the Far East and from 2023 for the Arctic.

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