Moscow property prices fall over 5pc in 2013

Photo credit: John Leach

Prices in the capital soared 9.6 per cent in 2012, but last year Moscow's real estate suffered the highest decline of all Russian cities, as overheated prices, economic slowdown and increased housing supply caused values to slip.

The value of secondary housing in Moscow is now 189,200 rubles, reports The Moscow Times. Experts from the government's property portal Mir Kvartir compared prices across Russian regions across the 12 months to December 2013 and found that 36 of 46 regions saw prices slow down considerbaly, while 10 had recorded decreases.

The figures paint a striking contrast to the previous year, when a similar study found prices fell in just one of the 40 regions.

Average secondary real estate prices across Russia rose 2.1 per cent in 2013,  but once the official inflation rate of 6.5 per cent is taking into account, values actuall fell last year.

Construction in Moscow's outer areas combined with a cooling economy and overpriced property helped to push values down in the city. The best price growth, though, was recorded in Ivanovo, a town in the Moscow region, where values climbed 8 per cent.

Ahead of the Olympic Games, the price of one square metre of property in Sochi jumped 4.6 per cent to 75,200 roubles.

The analysts forecast a mostly stagnant year ahead for house prices, with regional values gaining up to 5 per cent on average combined.