Altai Experts: Family Mortgage «Turned into a Pumpkin»

From 1 February 2026, the real estate market faces a serious transformation: mass subsidized mortgages are becoming a thing of the past. The focus is on family mortgage, whose conditions will change significantly. The government has decided to tighten the rules, and now one subsidized mortgage at 6% will be available only to one family. NGS22.RU looked into what this means for the market and how the innovations will affect prices.

According to realtor Oksana Klipenshtein, family mortgage will remain in 2026, but its impact on the market will be minimal.

— «The new rules provide that even in the case of divorce, a family can use the subsidized mortgage only once. This will significantly reduce the number of potential borrowers and, as a result, will not have a substantial impact on the overall market dynamics,» the specialist believes.

The subsidized mortgage, introduced in 2020 as a response to the pandemic and a measure to support developers, gave many Russians a unique chance to purchase housing.

— «It was five years of a shock march. I saw people take risks and buy, while others kept waiting. Housing affordability was colossal: studios cost about 1 million rubles (about $11,100 at current rates), and the monthly payment was only 5,000 rubles (about $56). It was a historic chance for those who wanted to move out of rented housing or buy their first home, often even without a down payment, at 3–8%,» the realtor recalls.

Today the situation has changed radically.

— «The mortgage has turned into a pumpkin. The mass subsidized mortgage, although it made housing affordable for many, simultaneously drove up prices. Previously, a studio could be bought for 1 million rubles (about $11,100), but now a one-bedroom apartment in Barnaul, in a new building without renovations, with an area of 36 square meters, costs 6.5 million rubles (about $72,200), and the monthly payment reaches 80,000 rubles (about $900),» the real estate market expert said.

In conditions of high prices and tighter mortgage terms, buyers are forced to seek new strategies. Many are considering installment plans, hoping for a reduction in mortgage rates in the future. According to the realtor, the vector of the real estate market in 2026 will be ambiguous.

— «It cannot be said that everything will rise or fall. Market dynamics will become clearer closer to summer, when we enter a completely new dimension. The abandonment of the mass subsidized mortgage will undoubtedly lead to a restructuring of the market, but how exactly it will behave — only time will tell,» Klipenshtein notes.

Realtor Natalya Kozlova noted that the end of January was marked by active discussion of new requirements for family mortgage.

According to her, the key changes include the mandatory provision of the child«s SNILS (personal insurance account number) to exclude repeated mortgage acquisition by a parent who is not married. In the event of divorce, the right to the mortgage belongs to the parent living with the child at the same address.

Also, now an official confirmation of marital status from the ZAGS (civil registry office) is required, since the absence of a stamp in the passport is no longer sufficient evidence. Spouses are mandatory co-borrowers, regardless of the presence of a marriage contract.

— «Attracting co-borrowers is possible, but the main borrower, who has the right to a family mortgage, must confirm their income. It is not yet specified whether certificates in the bank«s form will be accepted. The scheme where a mother on maternity leave without marriage attracts a co-borrower, for example, the child»s grandmother, with sufficient income, will no longer work,» the expert clarified.

The realtor drew attention to the fact that a serious obstacle to obtaining a mortgage will be a bad credit history of at least one of the spouses. Bankruptcy of one of the spouses completely excludes the possibility of obtaining a mortgage.

— «The real estate market is on the threshold of significant changes. Time will tell how these innovations will affect prices and housing affordability, but it is obvious that the issue of family mortgage now needs to be approached more responsibly and carefully,» the specialist sums up.