The average price of a square meter of a Yekaterinburg-based dwelling comes to 56,000 RUR at the moment. This figure can be applied to both existing homes and buildings under construction, Deputy Mayor Vladimir Kritskiy announced at a press conference.

‘I believe the introduction of a number of mortgage lending programs was one of the key factors that determined the dramatic increase in housing prices in 2006. So, I don’t think the same hype is likely to occur in 2007; the prices will probably go up 20% to 25%. Even now, the price growth rate tends to slow down and the market appears to be growing rather stable,’ Mr. Kritskiy said.

‘It would be hard to speak of prime cost of dwellings as such, since different types of buildings obviously have different type of prime cost, depending on the site, the materials used, the auction price of the land allotment, possible relocation of people living in slum dwellings, and having to built engineering facilities. This is why one should always take these and other variables into account when comparing the price of a dwelling and its prime cost,’ he observed.