Rental Prices Drop Across Major Russian Cities After Sharp Increases
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Loading... - Layla Lefebre
- 17 Oct 2024
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Rental prices in Russia’s largest cities have started to decline following significant hikes in the third quarter of 2024. Analysts predict that this seasonal cooling trend will continue into early 2025 as demand decreases and more budget housing options enter the market.
According to Yandex Rent, the average rental price for apartments in cities with populations over one million fell to 40,000 rubles in early October, marking a 2.1% decrease compared to September.
Declines Across Key Cities
Some of the biggest rental drops were observed in:
- Samara: –8.8% to 35,000 rubles
- St. Petersburg: –6.6% to 50,000 rubles
- Kazan: –6.6% to 46,000 rubles
- Rostov-on-Don: –6.2% to 35,000 rubles
Smaller decreases were reported in:
- Volgograd: –3.1% to 30,000 rubles
- Nizhny Novgorod: –2.1% to 40,000 rubles
- Ufa: –1% to 27,000 rubles
In Moscow, rental prices fell by 3.1% to 111,000 rubles, following a peak in September.
Meanwhile, Omsk (25,000 rubles), Novosibirsk (40,000 rubles), and Krasnoyarsk (27,000 rubles) saw no change in average rental costs.
Exceptions: Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar
Only Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar bucked the trend with rental price increases:
- Yekaterinburg: +7.3% to 44,000 rubles
- Krasnodar: +6.9% to 32,000 rubles
Market Dynamics and Future Trends
The cooling of rental demand follows a surge in prices during the third quarter when rental rates increased more than they had throughout the first half of the year. Olga Pavlinova, head of the rental department at Etazhi, attributed the decline to seasonal shifts and a change in the market structure with the reintroduction of budget housing options, which had been in short supply earlier.
Experts predict that rental rates will continue to fall gradually until early 2025. However, Roman Zhukov, head of Yandex Rent, stressed that the market will remain landlord-friendly until the supply stabilizes further.
Alexey Popov from CIAN.Analytics explained that the growth in available apartments—including properties from short-term rental owners and sellers delaying property sales—has contributed to the recent halt in price increases since late September.
Pavlinova added that landlords are now more open to negotiation as they feel the impact of reduced tenant activity, especially in the long-term rental market.
While analysts expect no dramatic collapse in prices, tenants can anticipate more bargaining opportunities as supply grows and demand stabilizes.
