Omsk Ranks High in New Building Development Endeavors
Houston, We've Got a Slump:
Things are looking a bit grim in the housing sector across Russia, mate. buckle up as we delve into the nitty-gritty.
Despite the ongoing construction in places like Omsk, Russia's biggest cities are starting fewer new housing projects than before. According to the bnMAP.pro news construction monitoring and analytics system, a mere 21 projects with 36 buildings commenced in the country's megacities in May 2025 – an explosion of 10 projects fewer than in April.
As the report stated, "Only 21 new residential construction projects with 36 buildings were launched for open sale in Russia's largest cities in May. This is significantly less than in April."
Analysts are scratching their heads, trying to make sense of it. They speculate that only 31 new projects with 48 buildings were launched nationwide in April, and the total number of lots in all new buildings in May dropped a whopping 34% compared to the previous month, totaling 6,800 lots over 326,300 sq.m.
Diving deeper into the numbers, we find that Kazan was the top dog in the race with four new projects and seven buildings, covering a whopping 66,000 sq.m of apartments. Yekaterinburg came in second with three new projects, four buildings, and a potential 1,208 planned apartments totaling 46,500 sq.m. Interestingly, Omsk and Krasnoyarsk each had two projects and three buildings starting in May, but the total number of apartments planned in Omsk is 624 (total area of 32,000 sq.m), and in Krasnoyarsk, it is 613 (31,300 sq.m). Moscow and St. Petersburg each had only one new project launched for open sale, reported TASS.
Now, if you're wondering if this is the norm or if there's more to the story, let's take a closer look at some enrichment data:
- Market Stagnation: There's been a bit of a standstill in the secondary housing market in Russia in recent months, with signs of market participants taking a breather during the summer and anxiously waiting for decisions from the Bank of Russia regarding potential interest rate changes.
- Decongesting Transactions: The housing market under construction in Moscow experienced a considerable decrease in transactions in April 2025, with a 17% year-on-year drop. The ready-made housing market also saw a decline, with a 13% decrease. This decrease in transactions could indicate a broader economic influence on new housing projects.
- Economic and Regulatory Factors: The stagnation and decrease in transactions might be driven by economic and regulatory factors like interest rate decisions and overall market expectations. The demand for mortgages increased by 9% in April, potentially indicating shifts in consumer behavior or anticipation of future economic shifts.
In a nutshell, though the data doesn't explicitly provide the reasons for the decrease in new housing projects, the stagnation in the secondary housing market and the decline in transactions in Moscow's housing market suggest broader economic and regulatory factors at play. Keep your ears peeled for more updates!
I'm not sure if this is a short-term trend or a sign of a larger problem in the Russian housing sector, but the current decline in new housing projects might be linked to the overall market stagnation and decreased transactions. This could potentially indicate economic and regulatory factors influencing consumer behavior and investor decisions, not just in real-estate, but also in the finance and industry sectors when it comes to investing.
