BFM.Ru. Renting one-bedroom apartments in the center of Moscow is becoming more affordable.

Marina Shekera, head of the Bazanda.ru portal, explained to BFM.ru that in 2012 tenants considered it impractical to pay high rates for small areas. There was a significant increase in demand for renting luxury housing with large areas. However, real estate agents believe that the prices for such offerings have decreased, but not significantly. They confirm the decrease in demand for luxury housing with small areas. "According to our database of offers, the rental price for one-bedroom luxury apartments decreased by 4% in 2012. One-bedroom apartments with small areas, up to 70 square meters, are in demand in the luxury rental market. The number of transactions with apartments of this format is stable; its growth is hindered by the small volume of similar objects on the market. It should be noted that a 4% difference from the average rental price for such an apartment of 51 thousand rubles per month is only 2 thousand rubles. With such prices, it can be said that the rate has practically not changed", said Maria Zhukova, the first deputy director of the company "Miel-Arenda", to BFM.ru.
In addition, the expert adds that in the luxury segment, the average price statistics are not always relevant, since there are not so many apartments, and the appearance or disappearance of one single expensive apartment from the market significantly affects the average price.
"We can confidently say that the demand for renting one-room apartments and studios in the city center became significantly lower last year. This led to a decrease in rates", says Irina Mogilatova, the general director of the TWEED real estate agency. The thing is that 80% of the total demand for housing in the center is formed by foreigners, and companies often rent housing for them. Most likely, rental budgets were adjusted, and expats started looking for apartments in a higher price range, suggests the expert.

"Elite studios were in high demand during the post-crisis period. People tried to reduce costs by switching from spacious 2-3-room luxury apartments to small studios in terms of the luxury segment. Currently, there is a redistribution of demand in favor of apartments with an area of ​​150 square meters and above in the luxury rental market. It is quite difficult to rent a studio with an area of ​​70-80 square meters: most tenants consider this housing too small, even if only one person is going to live in the apartment," explained Roman Popov, director of the strategic consulting department at Kalinka Real Estate Consulting Group, to BFM.ru.

In addition, apartments, particularly in the Moscow International Business Center "Moscow-City," compete with studios, the expert noted. "Previously, tenants did not consider renting prestigious real estate in the City because the infrastructure was not fully developed, and the transportation situation was close to collapse. Now there is an increase in demand for residential real estate rental in this area," he pointed out.
 

Poor - more expensive
The economy-class apartment market in Moscow is much more homogeneous. In this segment, the highest price growth was observed precisely for one-bedroom apartments - they increased in price by 7%, according to the "Miel-Arenda" company. Rent for other apartments in the economy segment increased on average by 5%. As Maria Zhukova reported, the cost of renting one-bedroom economy-class apartments reached 34 thousand rubles per month.

"Two-bedroom" apartments have become more expensive by 4.9% over the year and now cost an average of 41.5 thousand rubles. And the cost of renting "three-bedroom" apartments is currently 47.2 thousand rubles per month. Here, prices have even slightly decreased over the year - by 1.2%.
Prices have reached their limit, the expert believes, and are now affordable for few. There is an active shift in demand beyond the Moscow Ring Road (MKAD), according to experts.

Irina Mogilatova explains the increase in rental rates for the cheapest "one-bedroom" apartments by the increase in demand - it is formed both by visitors from the regions and by young people from Moscow who try to move out of their parents' homes earlier and can afford to rent.