Kazan estate agents stopped selling apartments in Turkey
The Russian-Turkish conflict finally knocked down the Tatarstan foreign real estate market — some agencies stopped selling objects in Turkey. Alternatively, Tatarstan citizens are offered Bulgaria, Greece and Spain. But, as Realnoe Vremya found out, even despite the fact that estate agents are ready to provide a discount to our compatriots, families with average incomes due to the rise in the exchange rate can't afford an apartment by the sea. Meanwhile, major investors are already preparing 'an alternate aerodrome' abroad, giving preference to real estate in European capitals.
Turkish shores are not sweet for me
The overseas property market was shaken in the spring after the devaluation of the ruble. However, one country still remained where the Tatarstan citizens continued to buy houses and apartments, despite economic instability. This is, of course, Turkey. Recently, the part of agencies specialized exclusively in this direction.
The political conflict between Moscow and Ankara struck the final blow against the foreign market. In last December, a bill was brought before the State Duma on prohibiting the purchase and rental of Turkish property. The amendment has not been adopted, but some Tatarstan agencies on sale of apartments and houses in Turkey has suspended its activities. So, the Kazan office of the Turkish company House Alanya informed us that the agency will not operate at leastuntil spring. Real estate agency Triumf said the same thing. 'We do not deal in property. This is due, firstly, currency fluctuations. Secondly, we have concentrated on Turkey. I think, there is no need to remind of the political situation,' told the head of Triumf agency Elmira Erzhanova.
'Bulgaria is not a foreign country'
What country have Tatarstan citizens chosen after they refused from Turkish shores? Perhaps, the second most popular destination for purchasing real estate abroad always was Bulgaria. Turkish and Bulgarian housing has always been attractive for our compatriots, first of all, due to affordable prices. 'Our prices are from 900 euros per sq. m., one-bedroom apartment costs about 50 000 euros. Crisis is good for us, because people invest in real estate. Russian language is the Bulgarian language with other endings. As everyone says, Bulgaria is not a foreign country, I think that's true,' told Stanislava Maleva, a real estate consultant Dinevi Group. But you can find apartments at lower prices in Bulgaria – from 17 000 to 25 000 euros. You should understand that the area of such housing will be no more than 20-25 sq. m. Besides, such object, especially if it is far away from the sea, will be illiquid.
Among other countries attractive to Tatarstan buyers the experts also call Greece and Spain. The benefit of these countries, according to the experts, is Mediterranean Sea, because it is 'more beautiful and more salty' than Black Sea. In general, residents of Tatarstan are very conservative and make a choice in favor of Europe. 'Thailand or Tenerife are almost unpopular in Tatarstan, unlike Moscow and St. Petersburg,' says Anastasia Gizatova.
Anastasia Gizatova: 'Thailand or Tenerife are almost unpopular in Tatarstan, unlike Moscow and St. Petersburg.' Photo: Maksim Platonov
Despite the fact that representatives of foreign agencies claim that buying an apartment on the beach – a great place to invest, experts claim the falling demand for this property type. 'The saddest trend now — a stream of sellers who previously purchased the resort property for the rest (Bulgaria, Spain, Montenegro, Croatia, Turkey, Egypt, etc.). People are forced to sell at prices often below the purchase price because of the falling markets. Many cannot understand why their property do not cost more now (the time has passed, good repair)' says Maria Kone, Director General of RMC Global.
Relatively inexpensive housing on the coast have always been popular among middle-income families that took out children during the holidays, and the elderly, they drove down South to spend their old age under the warm holiday Sun. It is clear that the decline in real incomes of this population forced to abandon purchases of houses by the sea.
'To have an option just in case'
At the same time, Maria Kone notes that the other category of buyers has become more intense – investors who want to take out and keep assets abroad. The average amount of such investments is 50-250 thousand euros, but the figure can reach up to 500 thousand euros. In this case, the preference is given to the apartments in Germany or the UK that you can rent. As for Greece, for investments they prefer not a holiday house but a real estate in Athens. Often the choice is made in favor of complexes, located close to European universities, where students are ready to rent an apartment almost all year round.
It cannot be said that the Tatarstan citizens are massively buying up real estate in Germany. However, some of our investors prefer to invest in this country, as it is associated in the minds of most with reliability and high quality. The average cost per square meter in Berlin — 2 500 euros, in Munich – € 3 000. But you can find more budget options – in the German city of Eisenach, where Martin Luther lived, 'a square' costs about 1 200 euros (almost the same as in Bulgaria or Turkey). But those who after these lines rushed to look for an apartment in Germany, we warn that in recent years, utilities are growing regularly and significantly, therefore, the maintenance of such housing can be a costly mistake.
'Also there are major investors in residential and commercial property (both private and legal entities). There is a separate segment of people who, due to the instability in the country, purchase property to have a second home and a spare variant just in case, or are planning to move for permanent residence,' told Kone.
The attraction of unprecedented generosity
Foreign developers are still ready to compete for the Russian customers, despite political restrictions and economic difficulties. As the market participants say, in some cases, discounts can reach 20%. 'Partners do offer, they do absolutely unprecedented discounts. There were suggestions on Bulgaria, that were 20% below the price. It is clear that this is not the entire apartment complex but separate objects,' tells Gulnaz Fakhrutdinova.
Also, Turkish developers are ready to provide discounts. 'The discount has increased – there were offers of up to 30%, primarily in Turkey,' notes Kamil Gimatdinov.
Nevertheless, you should not think that foreign developers felt sorry for the Russians after the growth of the exchange rate and decided to show unprecedented generosity towards them.
Of course, there are less buyers from Russia, the exchange rate greatly affects not only the desire but also on the ability of people to buy property abroad. Demand has fallen by about 50%. 'There are discounts, and not only for Russians, but due to general decline in demand. Perhaps, some players present it as targeted discounts to our compatriots, but that is not true,' believes Anastasia Gizatova. In the first place, they are ready to offer discounts to those countries where Russian buyers accounted for a significant part of transactions on the market. But where the Russians usually have not been active, the developers remained indifferent to the financial troubles of our citizens.