RBK Nedvizhimost: Prices for Backyard-Equipped Houses in Moscow Centre
24 September 2013
RBK Nedvizhimost: Prices for Backyard-Equipped Houses in Moscow Centre
Townhouses and detached houses located in the area of elite residential complexes in the centre of Moscow are an excellent alternative to a house at Rublevka which still suffers from road congestions. However, offers of accommodations of such format in the capital are super premium and very few.
Many of us would like to live in a suburb in a private house, to go out to a private yard and feel more private and comfortable compared to living in a flat where there is a neighbour behind the wall…It is in the very fact of owning a house where the meaning of the phrase “my house is my castle” is best expressed. But complicated road traffic situation on highways to Moscow and the desire to live close to the centre of the city and the entire relevant infrastructure make buying of suburban real estate not very reasonable. There is a way out, of course. The first option is to buy a large flat conforming to your status and become a usual resident of a multi-family house. In this case the factor of privacy is neglected: you will have to share public areas of a residential complex with other residents.
Another option is become an owner of a reconstructed detached house. But we almost sure that you will not manage to buy a detached house in the Central Administrative Area: the market is too narrow; several commercial companies are ready to buy each vacant detached house for their headquarters. Moreover, old detached houses are often located in noisy streets, which does not suit buyers with families.
And, at last, the third option is to buy a townhouse or a household in one of the few elite residential complexes. That is what our article is about.
The Unique Format
“The main feature of such accommodations (townhouses on the territory of elite multifamily residential complexes – note of RBK Nedvizhimost) is the opportunity to live in a private house with a private yard in the urban framework and use the entire infrastructure within the project or outside it,” Yulia Kravchuk, Head of Agency Division of Residential Real Estate Department of the Consulting Company S.A. Ricci. “Another feature of such projects is its uniqueness and exclusiveness for the Moscow real estate market. Very few premium residential complexes can boast such offers”.
According to realtors, in the Moscow elite real estate market (this market is a priori concentrated in the Central Administrative Area of Moscow) there are very few offers of town houses and private households located on the territory of residential complexes with well-developed premium class infrastructure. In the Central Administrative Area there can be defined about five such offers of primary and secondary markets which are located in the districts of Ostozhenka and Khamoviki. “Such small supply in this segment can be explained by the fact that for townhouses and detached houses within elite projects a large area is needed”, Yulia Kravchuk, a realtor, explains. Because of restrictions and new town-planning rules, construction of such projects in Moscow is quite limited. As the price of a square metre is high, floor spaces are large and total budget is high, it is more profitable and reasonable for developers to implement projects with flats.”
Who Buys
The main buyers of spacious townhouses in the centre of Moscow are married couples that are not ready to sacrifice wide opportunities and advantages of life in the centre of Moscow for the sake of living in traffic jams but on the private land at Rublevka or Novaya Riga. “That is why city townhouses are usually preferred by families with children,” Olga Tarakanova, Head of Urban Sales Division of Real Estate Department of the Russian Office of Knight Frank, explains. According to her, townhouses are in fact the same as suburban houses but without road traffic problems.
“For a person who got used to a suburban life it is first of all important to have a spacious house and convenient infrastructure conformant to their status and lifestyle as well as surroundings,” Timur Sukharev, Commercial Director of Restavracia N (developer of the project Knightsbridge Private Park in Khamovniki says about preferences of sophisticated buyers. It is important to accommodate the whole family and servicing staff, to equip children’s rooms, several bedrooms, a study room, a hall with a fireplace and a cloak room. And on the territory of the entire complex there should be adjoined private area with a park, fitness centre, a school, a kindergarten and many other things that residents of Rublevka have already got used to.”
Exactly for such customers townhouses and even detached houses are built in rare modern elite residential complexes of premium class. In the residential complex Knightsbridge Private Park in the Moscow district of Khamovniki, for example, there is a limited supply of townhouses - two-storey residencies with the area of 600 square metres and a private land plot. It should be mentioned that at an average area of an elite townhouse in the centre of Moscow if about 250-350 square metres in the secondary market. “Offers of large townhouses of over 500-600 square metres are very rare” Yulia Kravchuk from S.A. Ricci explains.
The Buyers
The main buyers of spacious townhouses in the centre of Moscow are married couples that are not ready to sacrifice wide opportunities and advantages of life in the centre of Moscow for the sake of living in traffic jams but on the private land at Rublevka or Novaya Riga. “That is why city townhouses are usually preferred by families with children,” Olga Tarakanova, Head of Urban Sales Division of Real Estate Department of the Russian Office of Knight Frank, explains. According to her, townhouses are in fact the same as suburban houses but without road traffic problems.
“For a person who got used to a suburban life it is first of all important to have a spacious house and convenient infrastructure conformant to their status and lifestyle as well as surroundings,” Timur Sukharev, Commercial Director of Restavracia N (developer of the project Knightsbridge Private Park in Khamovniki says about preferences of sophisticated buyers. It is important to accommodate the whole family and servicing staff, to equip children’s rooms, several bedrooms, a study room, a hall with a fireplace and a cloak room. And on the territory of the entire complex there should be adjoined private area with a park, fitness centre, a school, a kindergarten and many other things that residents of Rublevka have already got used to.”
Exactly for such customers townhouses and even detached houses are built in rare modern elite residential complexes of premium class. In the residential complex Knightsbridge Private Park in the Moscow district of Khamovniki, for example, there is a limited supply of townhouses - two-storey residencies with the area of 600 square metres and a private land plot. It should be mentioned that at an average area of an elite townhouse in the centre of Moscow if about 250-350 square metres in the secondary market. “Offers of large townhouses of over 500-600 square metres are very rare” Yulia Kravchuk from S.A. Ricci explains.
Pricing
Limited supply in the segment of elite townhouses dictates its pricing and is explained by rather high price of a square metre already at the stage of excavation. In ready projects the price of a square metre may vary from 14 thousand to 30 thousand dollars and higher for 1 square metre,” Yulia Kravchuk says.
Such high price of a square metre when areas are large (from 350 to 600 square metres) defines also the target audience who buy these real estate items and ready to invest funds into such offers. Olga Tarakanova gives examples of price records: “Among the latest examples of record transactions in the market there is the sale of a townhouse with the area of 760 square metres for 20 million dollars,” the expert says. “In March we concluded a transaction with a similar duplex with the area of 278 square metres, the exposition price was 5.8 million dollars. One of the latest real estate items in the secondary market is a four-level-townhouse with the area of 400 square metres, fully finished, it was sold at the price of 10 million dollars.
In primary market projects, such as the Knightsbridge Private Park, the more is the area of a household, the lower is the price of a square metre. As Timur Sukharev specifies, in the Knightsbridge Private Park households with the area about 180 square metres are offered starting from 19.5 thousand dollars for 1 square metre and when the area is 300 -500 square metres, the offer price already starts from 18 thousand for a metre. The price threshold in the residential quarter today is about 30 thousand dollars for a square metre.
Source: RBK Nedvizhimost