Restrictive meters: rental prices have increased by 15 over the year%
The cost of renting apartments has increased by up to 15% per year, depending on the region, the largest real estate agencies and development companies told Izvestia. However, prices rose faster in 2024. The slowdown is due to an increase in supply in the housing market. If there has been an acute shortage in the last few years, this year the number of available facilities has increased by a third. The reason that apartments are still getting more expensive lies in the high key interest rate and unaffordable mortgage products. In which regions are the most expensive and cheapest meters for rent and when it's worth thinking about your apartment — in the Izvestia article.
How much can I rent an apartment in Moscow for
In Russia, rental prices have increased by up to 15% over the year, depending on the region, the largest real estate agencies and development companies told Izvestia.
The median rental rate for a studio apartment in cities with a population of one million is now about 31.5 thousand rubles. This is 15% more than last year, Sberbank's Domclick service told Izvestia. The lower price range for long-term rentals in old Moscow is at the level of 44 thousand rubles per month against 40 thousand in October 2024, said Oksana Polyakova, deputy director of the apartment rental department at INKOM-Real Estate.
Over the past year, the average rental price has jumped by 5-15%, said Valery Tumin, Director of Russian and CIS Markets at fam Properties. Evgeny Shavnev, CEO of the Flip real estate investment company, gave a similar assessment.
According to Cian, from June to September 2025, rental rates for one-bedroom apartments in cities with a population of more than 1 million became 10% higher. At the same time, this growth is noticeably less than in 2023 and 2024 (+22% and +23%, respectively), said Alexey Popov, the company's chief analyst.
This year, the minimum price tag for rent (the cheapest options) has increased significantly, noted Valery Tumin. It has grown by almost 30% in the last four months. According to him, in the third quarter of 2025, the average rental price in Moscow increased by 23%, to a historical maximum of 115 thousand rubles. At the same time, in October, the minimum rental rate reached 44,000, an absolute maximum in 30 years of observations, he added.
In most large cities, the average increase in rental prices was about 12%, said Kristina Gudym, an analyst at Finam Financial Group. At the same time, according to her, the greatest demand remains for one-room apartments with an area of 30-40 "squares". The shortage of supply against the background of high demand makes compact apartments the most liquid, explained Valery Tumin.
In the capital, one—bedroom apartments in the Central and Western Administrative Districts rose in price more noticeably than the rest — by 15% over the year (from 72 thousand to 85 thousand rubles and from 55 thousand to 65 thousand, respectively), according to the data from the INCOM-Real Estate apartment rental department.
Other figures were provided by the analytical center Dom.RF. They noted that over the year to October 15, 2025, the average price of housing in St. Petersburg increased by 5%, in Moscow - by 6%, and in other cities it even decreased slightly — by 3%. The fact that the largest increase in rental housing is observed in Moscow and St. Petersburg was reported to Izvestia by the real estate agency "Useful Point".
In general, the five most expensive cities for apartment rentals in the country, in addition to the capital, include St. Petersburg (the average price for renting a one-bedroom apartment is 42.7 thousand), Kazan (36.4 thousand), Yekaterinburg (35.5 thousand) and Nizhny Novgorod (34 thousand rubles), said Olga, director of the rental department of the federal company "Floors". Pavlinova. The most affordable studio apartments for rent are in Voronezh (22.4 thousand), Volgograd (22.7 thousand) and Omsk (23.9 thousand), she concluded.
On average, for all millionaires, by the end of September this year, the median rate for studios was 32 thousand rubles, one—room apartments — 33 thousand, two—room apartments - 43 thousand, and three-room apartments - 58 thousand, said Roman Zhukov, head of the Yandex Rent service.
Rent or mortgage — which is more profitable
There are peak periods in the rise in apartment prices. This is the beginning of autumn, when there is an increase in the number of people coming to study and work who need housing. As a result, increased demand accelerates prices, explained Evgeny Shavnev from Flip. It is more realistic to rent a house at more favorable prices in the summer, when many leave, do not want to pay in vain for these months and refuse to rent, he added.
In addition to seasonality, there are a number of other reasons for the rise in rental housing prices. One of them is the key interest rate, which remained at 21% for a long time and only began to decline in June, said Valery Tumin of fam Properties. Expensive mortgage loans force potential buyers to temporarily postpone the purchase of an apartment and stay in rented housing, which supports demand in this segment, explained Kristina Gudym from Finam. In addition, the situation is being affected by the slowdown in income growth for Russians, said Alexey Popov from Cyan.
Another factor is the shortage of supply: rented apartments are leaving the market, and new ones are appearing slowly, Valery Tumin added. Izvestia also asked the Ministry of Construction what size and number of rooms are offered most often in the country.
In the last few years, there has been an acute shortage of supply, especially during the peak demand period of August–September, Olga Pavlinova from the Floors company drew attention. However, this year this indicator has increased by an average of 30-40% compared to the previous year.
Due to increased supply, rental prices increased less in 2025 than in 2023 and 2024. However, they are still rising, experts say. People are increasingly wondering whether it's worth continuing to rent an apartment or whether it's time to get a mortgage.
With a key rate of 16.5%, the market mortgage rate averages 21.2%, which makes it extremely unprofitable — overpayment can be four to five times the cost of housing (especially if you take out a loan for 30 years). The cost of rent (in large cities) is quite significant, while it is at least 2.5 times lower than the monthly payment on a market mortgage, subject to classical conditions in the form of a down payment of 30%, said Evgeny Shavnev.
A family mortgage at 6% per annum remains the most attractive solution for families with children under six years old: with a limit of 6-12 million rubles and a down payment of 20%, the monthly payment is comparable to rent, but at the same time a person becomes the owner, said Valery Tumin.
With the cost of an apartment of 11-13 million rubles, the monthly payment on a classic mortgage for 30 years with a down payment of 20% will reach 155-184 thousand, with a grace period for the same period — about 52-62 thousand, while the rent will cost about 50 thousand, compared Evgeny Shavnev.
There will be no strong increase in rental prices by the end of the year, on the contrary, prices may decrease outside Moscow and St. Petersburg, Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Finance Globa, predicted. Rents will continue to decrease in 2026 in non-metropolitan cities, while in Moscow and St. Petersburg they will stabilize as mortgage interest rates decrease, she concluded.
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