UrBC, Moscow, March 26, 2019. Sverdlovsk Region came 46th in the recent rating of affordable mortgage markets: as many as 27.8% of people living in the constituency could actually afford a mortgage in 2018, RIA Novosti’s research findings indicate. It is reported the figure is up by 5.5% against 22.3% in the year 2017.

In Russia on the whole, the share of families who could afford a mortgage rose to 30% last year, which was more than twice the percentage from three years earlier. The country’s top five mortgage markets are currently Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous District, Magadan Region, Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region/Yugra, Nenetsky Autonomous Region, and Murmansk Region.

‘The share of 30% can be seen as quite acceptable, given that the sample home the research focuses on is a one-bedroom apartment (about 60 m2 large) on an existing home market; this is, in fact, not the worst or cheapest type of home. The mortgages grew more affordable in many ways because of the lower interest rates, longer repayment periods, and rising nominal pay. Also, the housing prices have remained stable throughout the last few years,’ the research states.