Russian homebuyers are finding it increasingly difficult to save for a mortgage down payment as housing costs rise far faster than wages, according to new data from Sberbank and state housing agency Dom.RF.<\/p>\n
Only 8.3% of working Russians \u2014 roughly one in 12 \u2014 can save the required 20% down payment within two years, Sberbank deputy chairman Taras Skvortsov said<\/a>.<\/p>\n The main barrier is no longer just high interest rates but the rapid rise in home prices, which has pushed the upfront cost out of reach for most buyers.<\/p>\n Sberbank estimates the average time needed to save for a down payment has nearly tripled in five years.<\/p>\n A worker earning the median wage now needs 6.2 years to accumulate 20% of the price of a 65-square-meter new-build apartment compared with 2.3 years in 2019.<\/p>\n The sharp increase in housing prices is closely tied to Russia\u2019s wide-reaching \u201cpreferential mortgage\u201d programs.<\/p>\n The subsidized loans, initially offered at 6% interest and later at 8%, were available to almost anyone.<\/p>\n That support fueled demand and pushed prices sharply higher, with the average cost per square meter roughly doubling<\/a> over the past five years. Dom.RF\u2019s housing price index has risen<\/a> 84.4% since early 2021.<\/p>\n Savings capacity varies dramatically across regions. In the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, where average salaries are high thanks to the oil and gas industries, a median earner needs 2.9 years to save a down payment. The median earner in the Altai region, by comparison, needs 11.8 years.<\/p>\n The share of people who could save the needed amount within two years is lowest in Russia\u2019s major construction hubs \u2014 Moscow and its surrounding region (6.9%) and Krasnodar (6.6%) \u2014 and highest in Orenburg (19.2%), the Khanty-Mansi autonomous district (18.4%) and the republic of Komi (16.7%).<\/p>\n All state measures aimed at boosting demand have ultimately contributed to faster price growth, said<\/a> Vladimir Teterin, senior director for bank ratings at Expert RA.<\/p>\n As a result, the programs\u2019 stated goal of improving housing affordability has been partly undermined.<\/p>\n According to<\/a> the Urban Economics Institute, affordability in Russia \u2014 measured as the ratio of the price of a typical 54-square-meter apartment to a family\u2019s annual income \u2014 was at its strongest level in 2018-19.<\/p>\n The housing affordability index fell from 5.3 years in 2008 to 3.2 years in 2018-19 before rising again to 3.8 in 2022.<\/p>\n It eased to 3.3 last year and in the first half of 2025 returned<\/a> to its lowest point in six years.<\/p>\n While real wages rose sharply in 2023 and early 2024, growth has slowed this year. Real incomes increased<\/a> 4.4% in the January-August period, down from 9.1% in the same months of 2024, according to state statistics agency Rosstat.<\/p>\n