Mortgage for Elite as Russians Pour Trillions into New Homes

In 2025, Russians invested 1.7 trillion rubles (approximately $19 billion at current rates) of their own funds into new residential construction. Such data is provided by the Analytical Center of the state corporation DOM.RF. Of this, 1.1 trillion rubles (approx. $12 billion) were for purchases entirely in cash, and about 600 billion rubles (approx. $6.7 billion) were for down payments on mortgages. For comparison, the total revenue of developers from sales of new builds amounted to 5.2 trillion rubles (approx. $58 billion).

These figures look especially indicative against the backdrop of sharply increased income requirements for mortgage borrowers. To get a mortgage in Moscow today, one needs to earn 267,000 rubles (approx. $2,967) per month. In Saint Petersburg — about 194,000 rubles (approx. $2,156), in Kazan — 161,000 rubles (approx. $1,789). An income of over 100,000 rubles (approx. $1,111) per month is already required in 9 out of 16 regions where lending conditions were analyzed.

If you compare the figures, it turns out to be a paradox, doesn«t it?

Formally, the market is alive: deals are going through, money is coming in, construction isn«t stopping. But the mass buyer is being squeezed out of the mortgage market, and their place is taken by those who have not just large, but very large sums of money. The housing market is increasingly less about mass »affordability,« which President Vladimir Putin demanded.

Why is this happening? Why can«t developers moderate their appetities?! Details — in the MSK1.RU article.

«The Market Has Shrunk to Borrowers with Fully Declared Incomes»

One third of all money in new builds is not borrowed funds, but the population«s own cash. This fundamentally changes the nature of the market. It is becoming less dependent on credit availability and more on trust in real estate as a long-term asset. People are investing all their savings not into cryptocurrency and sharply risen gold, but into apartments. Because they know: it will become more expensive, no matter what.

«The sharp increase in income requirements for borrowers indicates not the extreme state of the mortgage market, but its overheating given the limited financial capabilities of households,» explains Viktor Zubik, founder of the management company Smarent, in an interview with MSK1.RU. «High rates, conservative scoring models, and inertially high housing prices have effectively squeezed the market down to the segment of borrowers with high, fully declared incomes. This has radically narrowed mass demand.»

Zubik believes there will be no easing.

Banks are already working with the most solvent audience and will not lower requirements until inflation stabilizes and monetary policy turns around (i.e., a sharp reduction in the key rate, and with it mortgage rates).

«Demand is constrained not by bank conditions, but by the limits of population incomes,» explains Zubik.

He states: mortgage has ceased to be a mass tool. It has become a product for a narrow layer of highly paid specialists, managers, and entrepreneurs. For everyone else, the market is either closed or requires alternatives — installments, family help, sale of another asset.

«Credit Is Available Only to the Chosen Few»

«Income requirements have already reached a level that looks prohibitive for most Russians. This is not a ceiling, but a logical result of the high key rate,» agrees mortgage broker Andrey Kreer, general director of INFULL.

Even if the key rate starts to decline, final mortgage rates are unlikely to quickly enter a clearly affordable range, the expert is confident.

«This means that the period when credit can only be obtained by the »chosen few« will continue. And expecting a return of mass demand under such conditions is not feasible. Sustainable market revival will only begin when the gap between population incomes and the cost of credit is overcome. For now, this is a time of forced waiting for most buyers,» says Kreer.

«That is why more and more deals are made either without a mortgage or with minimal borrowing. People who have savings prefer not to wait for »better times,« but to fix their money in a understandable asset,» considers the analyst.

Why People Still Pour Money into Concrete

«Real estate remains one of the key options for preserving savings. This is facilitated by several ways to use this asset (housing can be rented out long-term or daily, or lived in oneself) given its sufficiently high liquidity (almost any apartment in a recently completed new build can be sold within a reasonable time),» says Alexey Popov, chief analyst at the company Cian.

However, not all experts are so positive. No positivity in the future is seen, for example, by Andrey Kreer: «Preferential programs have become merely »crutches,« masking the fundamental inaccessibility of credit in general. Without a systemic reduction in the base cost of borrowed funds, any targeted measures only create distortions.»

One should not expect not only cheaper mortgages, but also a decrease in the price per square meter, says Valery Tumin, director of Russia and CIS markets at the company fam Properties:

«Real estate for Russians is not just square meters. It is a tangible asset that is visible and understandable. The impact on prices is direct. Demand remains stable even against the backdrop of expensive mortgages. Developers, seeing buyers» willingness to pay, are in no hurry to reduce costs. Moreover, volumes of new construction are declining — developers have become more cautious, which creates a supply shortage. As a result, prices hold and continue to grow, albeit slower than in previous years.«

Thus, the Russian new build market today remains a market of paradoxes. On one hand, record volumes of own funds, high developer revenues, and stable demand from affluent buyers. On the other — the actual closure of mortgages for most of the population. And concrete continues to attract trillions that appear from nowhere.