"Why do people go south in the summer?"

Three years ago, after a currency jump and a suddenly emerging trend of buying domestic products, experts predicted a surge in interest in vacations in the middle region of Russia. The owners of country houses who believed them were already calculating their profits, but the market, as always, had its own opinion on what was happening.

There is no hype in the affordable rental segment, according to experts. In February, both tenants and owners of dachas are just getting started, and the peak of demand and supply will be in March and April. However, realtors are not expecting long lines of people looking to rent a summer house in the Moscow region. They have been crying "wolf, wolf" for several years now, and no longer believe in miracles.

"For the past three years, we have expected that, considering the high prices of tickets and resort vacations, people would rent country houses more actively. However, our expectations are not fully justified," says Maria Zhukova, director of the company "MIEL-Rent". "Of course, there is demand for summer houses every year, but if you compare it with the demand for apartments, it is only a small percentage, and there are not so many offerings either."

As specialists from "MIEL-Rent" note, at the moment, there is only a small number of affordable country houses available on the market as a whole. Affordable means up to 50,000 rubles per month. This is where the main "summer" demand lies. Given that summer rentals usually start in May and end in September, the tenant needs to budget around 250,000 rubles. However, there is still a shortage of such houses.

According to "MIEL", the requests from tenants have not changed for a long time. They all want a nice house with all amenities, with decent furniture and a plot of land, with a nearby forest and body of water, close to Moscow and with convenient transportation, and it should cost 50-60,000 rubles per month, or even less.

The market can provide such "luxury" very sparingly: currently, only 10 percent of the rental country houses are offered at a rate of up to 50,000 rubles per month, 45 percent are rented at a price of 100-200,000 rubles per month, and five percent are leased for 300,000 rubles per month and higher.

Meanwhile, 43 percent of potential tenants are looking for cottages in the Moscow region with a monthly rent of up to 50,000 rubles, 41 percent are looking for cottages with a rent of 50-100,000 rubles per month. That is, more than 80 percent of the "summer" demand falls on houses with a rent rate not exceeding 100,000 rubles per month.

As for the "far dachas", which a few years ago were promoted as the epitome of environmental friendliness, today there are very few of them available for rent, and they are not in demand.

If we talk about the geography of affordable rentals, the most accessible properties are offered in the eastern and southeastern parts of the Moscow region, while tenants prefer the west and northwest. That's the mismatch. However, it is during February-March that you can search for and find what you want in the locations that you like.

"Of course, the earlier you start searching for a country house for the summer, the more likely you are to find what you need in terms of the "price-quality" ratio, distance, and direction. And there is much more time for searching. If you procrastinate until May, as often happens, there will no longer be good and reasonably priced offers," reminds Maria Zhukova.

The house, on the other hand, won't promise any miracles either: if the family council has decided to rent a summer house, it is better to start looking at offers now. Of course, there can be unforeseen circumstances for homeowners, when they are forced to rent out their houses in May at a lower price, but only a very lucky and confident tenant can count on a super lucrative last-call rental.

Settling in for the summer

It should be noted that the luxury country house rental market operates according to somewhat different rules.

«In the segment of high-budget country real estate, long-term rental predominates, and the share of seasonal offers makes up around 20 percent of the total volume of the market. This is explained by the significant cost, and sometimes uniqueness, of individual objects, their interior, and furnishings. Owners are interested in entering into long-term relationships with tenants for at least one year or more, if not to sell,» shares the secrets of prosperous homeowners Dmitry Zheleznov, Sales Director of Kalinka Group company.

According to the expert, seasonal rental is mainly sought after by owners of country real estate that they have not been able to sell or rent out for a long time before summer.

But the situation changed somewhat in 2016: the seasonal demand for expensive rental houses in the Moscow Region began to grow. According to Dmitry Zheleznov's observations, affluent families today often prefer to test the country lifestyle before buying their own cottage. In addition, renting allows those who are wealthy, but not yet enough to buy their own home, to live in nature.

Tatiana Chernykh, Head of the Rental Department of the Country Real Estate Department at Penny Lane Realty, sees several more reasons for the increased demand. «We first noticed the active demand for summer rentals last summer, and it was associated with the fact that many people abandoned their plans to go on vacation in Europe (the overall political situation was tense) and came to the Moscow Region,» the expert claims.

According to Tatiana Chernykh, this year the situation has stabilized, so they do not expect a frenzy in the agency.

«Nevertheless,— she continues,— potential tenants of country houses have been contacting us since December asking to find an option for the summer. I think they will compare the costs of vacationing in the Moscow Region and in Europe, and if staying at home turns out to be cheaper, they will stay here».

However, Dmitry Zheleznov says that if a client intends to rent a house outside the city for the summer or longer, then February-March is the most suitable time to start active and targeted searches. The market currently does not have an excess of high-quality offers, and closer to the summer, according to the expert, there may even be a shortage of them.

«At the same time, you need to understand that if you are looking for seasonal country housing and find your dream house in February-March, you should be ready to conclude a contract and pay rent immediately. Otherwise, no one guarantees that the property will wait for you and not be taken by more agile contenders,» warns the realtor.

As for the cost of renting expensive houses, there is both good and bad news. The bad news is that special discounts are not expected — at least, that's what experts believe. According to Tatiana Chernykh, prices were already reduced by 30 percent or more in the past two years on the whole market, and now, all owners have reached certain common denominators. Dmitry Zheleznov even sees in his objects that compared to last season, rental rates have increased by 10-20 percent, depending on the condition, location, and area of the house.

The good news is that there is unlikely to be a sharp jump in rental rates in anticipation of summer, unless there are shocking socio-economic changes. With active demand and the traditional seasonal "washing out" of the most attractive lots, prices may increase by five to seven percent, but no more.

Currently, the average rental rate in the luxury segment is 500,000 to 700,000 rubles per month. For such an amount, you can rent a house with three to four bedrooms on a plot of 15-20 acres in a guarded closed settlement on Rublevo-Uspenskoe, Novorizhskoe, Ilyinskoe, Minskoe Highway, within 5-20 kilometers of Moscow.