Residential property favored over commercial – Penny Lane Realty

As the Russian economy bounces back after the financial meltdown, many are looking for new investment opportunities.

Bricks and mortar is one thing they are aiming at, as one leading Moscow real estate agent, Penny Lane Realty CEO Georgy Dzagurov, told RT Business.

GD: The market is stable. It is not as active as in 2008 when people expected high growth, high return on the investments only as a result of the fact that the price of properties is growing in Russia. Today they are not paying that much attention to the growth of the prices, they pay more attention on the refund, on the return that they receive on the investments.

RT: Is it the time to invest in Russian real estate markets?

GD: To be truthful, this spring quite a few people understood that it was a good time and today it is a worse time than in spring. In spring 2010 there were many more opportunities. Today, I think, quite a few Russians would return from the summer holidays as they have to bring their children back to school as they return to Moscow – September and October will probably change the situation dramatically again. Today the people in our company, who are experts in the investments, go around Moscow suburbs, look for residential projects as we do not see that many opportunities in commercial properties.

RT: And what is your forecast?

GD: By the end of this year we will have huge shortage for ready-to-move-in expensive properties in Moscow as they are not being and they have not been built for, probably, two years. Most of the projects have been stopped and they will not appear before 2015, lets say. That will give us a great shortage, which will result in higher prices.