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- Piecework offer: developers increase discounts in an effort to speed up apartment sales
Piecework offer: developers increase discounts in an effort to speed up apartment sales
Amid the sales crisis, developers are increasingly resorting to discounts to attract buyers. The share of mass-market apartments offered at a discount reached 40% in Russia, and 44% in Moscow and the Moscow Region, market participants told Izvestia. At the same time, almost half of the built housing remains unsold in the country. Demand for it has fallen due to the tightening of mortgage programs, a decrease in the purchasing power of the population and high real estate prices. Izvestia figured out how the housing market would develop and what buyers could expect.
Why is the share of apartments with discounts growing
The share of apartments on the market that the capital's developers sell at a discount has increased by 8% since September 2025 and reached 44%, according to analysts from the aggregator of new buildings RedCat and developer LEGENDA.
According to a study conducted by Izvestia, most developers in the capital offer discounts of 15-20% on individual volumes of apartments with full payment. For some lots, the discount can reach 40%.
In addition, developers actively use targeted offers: discounts for salary clients of banks, a discount of 2-5% on repeat purchases, bonuses for recommendations under the "Bring a Friend" program, as well as a 2-3% price reduction when buying through trade-in.
Subsidized mortgage programs are another tool for attracting buyers. For clients without benefits, the rates for the entire loan term, according to RedCat, are 12-13%. Options with a rate of about 3.5% are available for family mortgage participants, as well as programs with an increased limit of up to 30-50 million rubles.
According to estimates by business representatives, the share of apartments with discounts in Russia on average reaches 40% or more.
—The 44% figure is already a harsh reality for the entire market, not just the capital," Rustam Khamdamov, Sales Director of Talan, said in an interview with Izvestia. According to him, there were significantly fewer such lots a year ago.
As the expert explained, the main reason is a decrease in demand: buyers have become more rational in choosing housing, and credit conditions have tightened. As Izvestia wrote, the share of unsold apartments in new buildings in Russia has reached 45%.
— For some projects, this is a necessary measure, for others it is a way to manage the liquidity of individual lots. It is important to note that discounts are more common with 100% payments or short installments," the business representative noted.
Rustam Khamdamov noted that the growth in discount offers is primarily due to the high cost of mortgages and accumulated supply, especially in high-readiness homes.
— The market has moved into a phase where the ability to work with margin and real demand is more important. Now there is a natural selection process: those who control the cost and offer understandable value to the buyer win, and not just reduce the cost," he believes.
The maximum discount on individual apartments now reaches 37%, and for a number of major players, the average discount varies from 10 to 30%, Dmitry Proskurin, commercial director of Metrium, told Izvestia.
— However, special offers have long become a familiar marketing tool, and discounts can be found on the websites of almost any new buildings. Consumer psychology works well here. A person buys an expensive object in Moscow, and it is important for him to feel at least a small saving," the expert noted.
He admitted that in conditions of expensive mortgages and a significant cooling in demand, developers are forced to use the entire arsenal of sales tools.
— At the same time, the total volume of supply in Moscow remains very impressive, and competition between projects is only getting worse. The very structure of the offer is gradually changing: typical mass residential complexes are giving way to more expensive segments. In such an environment, a direct discount, admittedly, remains the most reliable and psychologically reliable lever of influence on the buyer," said Dmitry Proskurin.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Construction with a request to give its assessment of the situation on the real estate market. On October 9, the head of the department, Irek Fayzullin, held a meeting with representatives of the Central Bank, where the sustainability of the industry was discussed.
Should we expect a reduction in apartment prices
According to Maxim Fedorchenko, President of the Association of Construction Organizations of the Novosibirsk Region, the increase in the number of discount offers is associated with another decrease in demand. Developers need to maintain sales rates at the level stipulated by the financial plan, which the bank agreed upon when issuing project financing.
— It is important to understand that these marketing tricks do not in any way indicate a high marginality of construction. Regional developers cannot provide really big discounts, because they are already teetering on the edge of profitability," said an industry representative.
In St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, almost every developer uses discounts in one format or another today, Vera Golubeva, business partner at TrendAgent in the Northern Capital, told Izvestia.
— These may be special conditions for certain categories of buyers or point discounts on specific lots, which in some cases reach 10-15%. However, I would focus not so much on the size of the stated discount as on the final cost per square meter. Despite the active promotions, the average transaction receipt in St. Petersburg is not decreasing. On the contrary, since the beginning of the year it has grown from about 9.4 to 10.6 million rubles," she said. — Therefore, there is no reason to say that new buildings are becoming cheaper.
According to Vera Golubeva's forecast, after the family mortgage conditions change, the market will react not so much with a massive increase in discounts and a decrease in the average check, as with the development of other financial instruments. Among them are subsidized rates, tranche mortgages and individual conditions for buyers. Installments will also remain in the offer of developers, but they will no longer be able to serve as a universal substitute for mortgages, she believes.
— The proportion of apartments that are sold at discounts can really be high. However, I would not consider this a sign of a crisis in the real estate market. A lot depends on the segment and the pricing policy of the developer himself," says Elena Kabesheva, Deputy General Director for Commercial Activities at Tavrida Development Group.
According to her, one of the reasons for the growing number of discount offers is the desire of developers to fulfill the sales plan. Reducing the price helps you make deals faster.
— According to a number of sources, the profitability of the developer today is around 5-7%. And if they start giving real discounts, they are unlikely to be more than this value, given the fact that they now pay increased remuneration to real estate agencies, which is up to 4%, and sometimes more," said Sergey Razuvaev, founder of GMK, co—founder of the Association of Real Estate Market Professionals REPA, in a conversation with Izvestia..
In addition, banks control the margin of developers and are unlikely to agree to its significant reduction for the sake of discounts. Therefore, in the near future, at least until the end of the year, we should not expect significant discounts and lower prices for new buildings, he believes.
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