Developers appreciated the Central Bank's decision to lower the key rate to 14%

Another reduction in the key rate to 14% means the consolidation of the "expensive money" regime as the new norm for the coming years. Vyacheslav Priymak, Vice President of Marketing and Sales of the Etalon Group, told Izvestia about this on July 24.

"The high rate limits the availability of classic market mortgages and enhances the role of government subsidy programs. The change in the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation is unlikely to affect the work of developers. They assess the state of the economic sector in advance and "lay down" forecasts for a key indicator in their strategies," he said.

Reducing the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points is a very cautious step on the part of the Bank of Russia, said Julian Ovechkin, head of the mortgage department at Level Group. Moreover, such a decision may indicate that at the next meetings the regulator is quite capable of taking a break and for a while refusing to further reduce the rate.

"Therefore, the market perceives this signal quite cautiously. The decision of the Central Bank will have virtually no effect on the mortgage programs of banks. Even a more significant reduction in the key rate by 0.5 percentage points, which occurred earlier, did not significantly reduce the cost of housing loans," the expert added.

According to Elizabeth Conway, Director of Strategic Development and Managing partner of ELEMENT, the decline continues to create a more favorable background for the construction industry.

"This will reduce the pressure on the project economy, expand the possibilities of market mortgages and generally increase the predictability of the environment for making investment decisions. We expect that developers will begin to actively review the economics of new projects and return to deferred investment decisions. In the second half of the year, this may lead to a stabilization of the dynamics of new launches and a gradual recovery in market activity," she believes.

While the Central Bank is hitting 12: in 2026, the key rate will remain in double digits

It will not be reduced quickly, even though inflation is close to the target — is it worth carrying money for a deposit or buying an apartment

The press service of LSR Group expressed the opinion that lowering the key interest rate will strengthen the optimistic expectations of consumers, because for large purchases, especially such as real estate, most still use borrowed funds. However, buyers will still carefully evaluate the reliability of the developer, the quality of the project and the terms of purchase, added Sergey Goncharov, General Director of Razvitie Group. That is why companies with a stable financial position, a diversified portfolio of facilities and high construction readiness will benefit.

In addition, Eduard Khristianov, First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC RosDorBank, noted that reducing the key rate by 0.25 percentage points to 14% can be considered as a careful step towards increasing disinflationary and financial constraints.

"In addition to the clean economy, there is also an emotional context. A long period of high interest rates combined with fluctuations in the exchange rate creates a feeling of "prolonged slowdown" in businesses and limits their willingness to take on new obligations. A slight reduction in the rate by 0.25 percentage points does not radically change the cost of loans, but it gives an important psychological signal: the regulator sees a stabilization of inflation and is ready to gradually reduce the degree of cruelty, reducing nervousness around the exchange rate and the debt market," he said.

According to Pavel Galkin, the founder and chairman of the Board of the Parity Development Group, the effect will be delayed. Demand may start to pick up, but it's too early to expect a massive reduction in the cost of mortgages and a sharp increase in the number of transactions.

On July 24, the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia lowered the key rate by 25 basis points, from 14.25% to 14.00% per annum. The Central Bank concluded that it is necessary to reduce the key rate more smoothly than previously expected. The regulator forecasts the average key rate at 14.5–14.6% in 2026 and in the range of 10.5–12.5% in 2027.