OREANDA-NEWS  Rental housing in major Russian cities has risen in price by a quarter on average over the year. Olga Pavlinova, director of the rental department of the company "Floors", told Izvestia about this.

The specialist noted that in a number of large cities of the country, the cost of renting one- and two-bedroom apartments has increased by more than 25 percent. The rent of a one—bedroom apartment rose the most in Nizhny Novgorod in a year - by 28 percent. Chelyabinsk and Tyumen were among the top three in terms of price growth, where the rental rate increased by 26.4 and 22.7 percent, respectively. In Moscow, rental housing has increased in price by 14 percent, and in St. Petersburg - by 13 percent.

As the main reasons for the rise in rental prices, real estate market experts identified a shortage of supply against the background of refusal to rent housing by owners and an increase in mortgage rates for "secondary". People who actively bought apartments in new buildings during the construction phase began to wait for the completion of construction in rented housing, and those who decided to delay mortgage registration made a choice in favor of rental housing until the mortgage interest decreases or until they save up for the first installment. Experts also stressed that the owners decided to raise the cost of rent, as their expenses are rising — while for many of them renting apartments serves as almost the only income.

According to Oleg Malakhov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Primkey Group of companies, a further increase in rental rates is possible only within 10 percent. He is convinced that, given the record volumes of new housing construction, the supply of rental housing will only grow, so the rise in rental prices should stop. VSN Group CEO Yana Glazunova believes that in January 2024, the cost increase process will slow down, but in February-March it may resume within the limits of inflation. Olga Pavlinova, Director of the Floors Rental Department, predicted that by the end of the year the rental rates could increase by another one to two percent, after which the growth would slow down. However, she did not rule out that they could grow again before the spring of next year.

In December, it became known that renting the most expensive one-room apartment in the center of Moscow will cost 400 thousand rubles.