Private construction has returned to Rublevka

According to Kalinka Group experts, up to 20% of the houses on Rublevo-Uspenskoe Highway have finishing done by private developers. The incentive for their activation was the shortage of quality offerings and the lack of new projects in elite suburban directions in the Moscow region.

Today, 75% of buyers in the elite country real estate market want to purchase a ready-to-live property. Rublevo-Uspenskoe Highway remains the direction where wealthy citizens dream of living. They have a clear idea of what a modern house should look like: the area may vary, but it should be at least 400 sqm. It should have 4-5 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and dressing room; a spacious living room with a fireplace; a spa area with a pool, sauna, and hammam; a garage for at least 2 cars; living quarters for staff; spacious utility rooms, including storage rooms and laundry rooms. The house should be located in a gated and guarded settlement. The distance to the Moscow Ring Road for a country house should not exceed 25 km and for permanent residence - not more than 15 km.

Turnkey properties are available on Rublevo-Uspenskoe Highway, but they mostly belong to the secondary market. Over the course of 15-20 years since their construction, these houses have become morally outdated and do not meet modern requirements in terms of comfort, design, and finishing quality. The primary supply in the elite segment is practically represented by only a few worthy settlements, including "Barvikha XXI", "Razdory-2", Park Ville Zhukovka, and "Berezki".

"During the crisis in 2013-2014, the main supply of quality primary offerings on the Rublevo-Uspenskoe Highway market was exhausted. Last year, major developers did not introduce new projects to the market, as they had doubts about the prospects for the development of large-scale cottage settlements," comments Ekaterina Rumyantseva, Chair of the Board of Directors of Kalinka Group. "The emerged shortage, while maintaining demand, brought private developers to the market, who earn 50% to 100% profit from selling turnkey houses."

Since Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway is densely built up, land for commercial projects is acquired from owners who "cut off" 15-20 acres from their land plots for resale. The price of such a plot ranges from $400,000 to $700,000. Meanwhile, a turnkey house with high-quality but not very expensive finishing in a modern style, with an area of 450-600 sq.m (excluding furniture and appliances), will cost $2-3 million, and the construction costs will not exceed $700,000. The stage from buying the plot to selling the finished house by a professional private developer takes 9 months to a year. Such properties appear in the most popular and inhabited settlements - in "Nikolina Gora", "Zhukovka", "Gorki-2", "Gorki-8", "Razdory-2".

"Before the crisis, developers preferred to work in the de luxe segment in the direction of Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway, introducing houses with a cost of $13-20 million to the market. Today, having experienced the necessity of selling properties with a significant discount during the economic downturn, some developers are moving to a more democratic segment," said Inna Leshchiner, director of the country real estate development department at Kalinka Group. "At the same time, a significant portion of such projects is being sold at the stage of internal finishing, which indicates a shortage of supply in the market."