Square footage: office rental price increased by 40% in a year%
The cost of renting offices in Russia has increased dramatically in 2025, especially in Moscow, where it has risen by 40%. The national average growth rate was 10%. Against the background of this situation, demand has fallen by 25% compared to 2024. Representatives of small and medium-sized businesses are switching to a hybrid or remote work format and reducing the space occupied in order to save money. About why prices are rising and how much offices are in demand, see the Izvestia article.
How office rental prices have changed
According to the results of last year, a significant increase in rates was recorded in the Moscow office rental market, according to the CORE consulting company.XP, in existing offices in all classes, they increased by 40%.
In the secondary market inside the MKAD, rates in Prime class offices reached 85 thousand rubles per square meter. m per year. Rates increased by 27% in Class A and by 8% in Class B+. At the same time, prices doubled in the segment of cheaper Class B offices.
In the market of primary offices "in concrete" inside the MKAD, the growth for the Prime class was 72%, the rest - 8%. And Class B has fallen in price by 19%.
The main reason for the price increase is the lack of high—quality supply on the market, said Sergey Kologrivy, a real estate expert at the federal company Floors in Moscow.
"By the end of the year, the availability of the most sought—after Class A offices in popular locations in Moscow was less than 5%, and in the Moscow City area and in the Central Administrative District - less than 2%," he said. — The most in demand are modern B+ class offices, which offer modern finishes, well-developed infrastructure and a good location. Paradoxically, demand in annual terms turned out to be 20-25% lower than last year, depending on the locations.
In total, 660,000 square meters of office space were commissioned in Moscow in 2025, which is a record value over the past ten years, according to developer Sum of Elements and investment consulting company Ricci. But developers are primarily focused on the premium segment — 93% of the new offer is represented by Class A buildings.
— The citizens want the office to be conveniently located, have a well—developed infrastructure, services, stylish and comfortable public spaces, as well as modern equipment, - explained Yulia Petrochenko, Director of Commercial Real Estate at Summa Elements Group.
Tatiana Grikhno, Head of Office Real estate at A101 Group, also confirmed the jump in rental prices in 2025. According to her, the main reason is the long artificial restraint of rates in previous years, and now the market is correcting sharply.
"However, we are already entering the balancing phase: we should not expect a new sharp growth, although in some locations, such as New Moscow, growth will continue due to business migration and large—scale infrastructure development," she said.
A similar situation, albeit with more restrained growth dynamics, is observed in Russia as a whole, noted Sergey Kologrivy. During the year, rental rates for Class A and A+ offices increased by an average of 8-10%. B-class offices in residential areas are less in demand, their cost, on the contrary, decreased by 7-8%.
"But small class B+ offices have increased in price by 25-30% on average, but this was mainly due to a change in the structure of the offer," added Sergey Kologrivy.
Why did prices rise?
The supply of high-quality offices remains limited: there are few new openings, vacancy is low, and some of the space was absorbed in previous periods, said Natalia Frolova, CEO of City&Malls PFM.
"Additionally, the increase in rates was influenced by macroeconomic factors: an increase in the cost of construction and an increase in operating costs, an increase in tenants' demands for the quality of office spaces," she said. — As a result, the market has moved into a phase where the price is formed not by the volume of demand, but by the lack of a finished quality product.
According to Natalia Frolova, companies have become much more careful in their choice: premises with outdated engineering, inefficient layouts and high operational risks are increasingly losing out to the competition, even if the bid seems attractive.
— The key trend of the market is based on the shift in demand from "cheap meter" to predictability and quality. Tenants prefer smaller areas, but more functional and ready for operation," the expert added.
Against the background of a shortage of high-quality rental offers and high rates, there is a noticeable increase in interest in buying office properties, said the head of the Office Real Estate department at CORE.XP Irina Khoroshilova.
— By the end of 2025, the share of purchase and sale transactions in the total volume of office transactions has increased significantly, almost equaling rental. 47% are purchase and sale transactions and 53% are rental transactions," she said.
This signals that companies are beginning to consider the acquisition of real estate as a way to fix operating costs and obtain real estate assets in the face of market uncertainty, the expert believes.
A trend towards office specialization for a specific type of business is also starting to develop, added Mr. Kermen Mastiev, Director of Commercial Real Estate. Adapting the layout of an office building to a specific technical task from the buyer allows you to design buildings with a given floor area and a specific set of functions.
— The deadlines for new offices to enter the market are getting longer: construction approval procedures have become more complicated, which delays the implementation of some projects. This limits the supply on the market," he added.
To whom offices have become unavailable
Offices have become less accessible primarily for small and part of medium-sized businesses, especially in central business districts, Natalia Frolova said. In response, companies are increasingly considering alternatives — flexible offices (corporate coworking spaces), locations outside business territories, reducing space and switching to remote or hybrid work formats.
Non—profit organizations are among the organizations that really need an office and will not be able to rent it at rising prices. According to a study by Cyana and the Friends Foundation's Center for Research and Knowledge, just over half (52%) of Russian NGOs have commercial leases. According to the study, 45% of NGOs spend more than 30% of their annual budget on property maintenance. At the same time, 47% of non-profit organizations do not have enough space to solve their tasks, and 44% say that the insufficient size of the premises limits their development.
Moreover, such organizations cannot always go online or reduce their space, as they work directly with their wards — the homeless, those with many children, and patients with various diseases.
Galina Spasenova, Senior Partner at Kontakt InterSearch, recalled that there are categories of businesses or organizations for which a complete abandonment of the office is impossible or extremely risky.
— These are those who need a high proportion of "live" communication, teamwork — for example, NGOs, educational and social projects, medical and service organizations, part of production and R&D structures (research and scientific organizations. — Ed.). For them, the office is not just a workspace, but an environment of interaction, trust and coordination," she said. — Especially in NGOs, where budgets are limited, the office often performs several functions at once: a place for teamwork, meetings with beneficiaries, volunteers and partners.
But in general, the interest of Russians in remote work is high. According to the data hh.ru and OM Development, according to the results of last year, one in five Russians indicates the remote format as preferred in their resume, and the total number of such applicants exceeds 4.9 million people.
Therefore, it makes sense for companies, especially small ones, to switch to a remote work format completely or as much as possible, says Elvira Glukhova, an economist, expert on lending and investments, founder of the Flagship financial ecosystem.
— Savings occur primarily by excluding leases from operating expenses. In addition, they pay for utilities, cleaning the office, buying hygiene products, and coffee. There is evidence that if you give up the office, you can save from 5% to 15% of operating costs," the expert emphasized.
Most companies leave small areas with meeting rooms, some employees are transferred to remote locations or create a flexible hybrid office visit schedule, added Vladimir Filatov, Chairman of ICA Capital.
— But there are organizations that require the physical presence of employees, and it will not be possible to save significantly on rent here. Even small companies, where full remote employment and abandonment of offices are possible, try to keep small offices for periodic live communications with employees and direct meetings with clients," said Vladimir Filatov.
Milana Valieva, Managing Partner of the Greative communications agency, believes that for small and medium—sized businesses, a hybrid format of work with the rental of a small but convenient office for meetings is the optimal solution.
"It allows you to combine the advantages of remote work with personal communication opportunities, contributing to increased efficiency and the creation of an innovative product," the expert believes. "For small companies, meetings in coworking spaces three to four times a month become the solution, as needed.
IT companies, digital services, some creative industries, and online education can completely abandon the physical office or reduce it to a minimum format, where the main value is created by intellectual labor, and processes are already built in a digital environment, Galina Spasenova noted.
Konstantin Samedi, Director of Sales at Ortiga Development, is confident that this year the planned rise in the cost of office space, rising rental rates, as well as the reorientation of some buyers from rent to purchase will continue.
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