Russia Has Become Europe's Leader in Mortgage Inaccessibility
Russia ranks first in Europe in terms of mortgage inaccessibility. According to data from the Numbeo platform, the monthly mortgage payment in Moscow amounts to about 4.5 times the average disposable income after taxes, which is the worst figure among European cities.
The top four cities in this “anti-ranking” also include the Russian cities of Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and Kaliningrad. In addition, the top ten cities with the least affordable mortgages include Odesa, Kyiv, Dnipro, Minsk, Tirana, and Chișinău.
One of the main reasons cited is high interest rates on market-rate mortgages. According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, in June the average interest rate on new loans was about 18% per annum, although at the beginning of last year it reached nearly 29%.
Against the backdrop of rapidly rising housing prices, Russians’ purchasing power has also declined. According to estimates by financier Yevgeny Kogan, while ten years ago the average annual income could buy about 7 square meters of housing, by 2025 it will only be enough for 4.2 square meters.
Source: Numbeo.
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