December 2, 2014. Yekaterinburg housing market output rose by 11% in the nine months of 2014 compared with January-September 2013 as well as increased by 6% in comparison with the previous all-time high reached last December. 2.8m sq m worth of housing was put in Yekaterinburg by September 2014, Ural Chamber of Real Estate’s Analytical Department reports.

The construction tempo was also on the rise, so around 1m sq m worth of new housing might be commissioned by developers by the end of the year.

As for Yekaterinburg’s satellites, 308,000 sq m worth of housing (mostly apartments in multi-storey apartment buildings) will be put by the end of the year. Most of these are being constructed in Berezovsky and Verkhnyaya Pyshma; besides, a few construction projects have been launched in Sredneuralsk, and a new district will soon be commissioned on the south shore of Lake Isetskoye.

Lofts and luxury apartments proved another fast-growing housing segment this year: 213,000 sq m are being put up at the moment, which is 17.8% more than a year earlier. This type of housing falls into two categories: mass-market-oriented apartments for customers on a strict budget (something that might appeal to families who used to buy homes on the outskirts or in some older buildings) and luxury apartments that will compete with ‘business class’ and ‘elite’ housing. In fact, over 50% of new homes constructed downtown pertain to this category.