‘Rent it immediately’: 2025 will be the year of housing rental
The median cost of long-term rental flats in Kazan in 2024 has increased by more than 25% — to 50,000 rubles. This is almost 40% more expensive than the Russian average. The capital of Tatarstan has turned out to be one of the most attractive cities with a population of over a million, which Russians are ready to consider for moving. The BRICS Summit held last year added investment attractiveness to Kazan. Since the key rate of the Central Bank remains high, and mortgages are unaffordable for most citizens, 2025 can well be called the year of rental housing, experts believe. Read about how much rental rates will increase this year and what factors will influence this market in a review of the analytical staff of Realnoe Vremya.
Russians choose one-bedroom flats
The median cost of long-term rent in the first ten days of January 2025 in Russian cities with a population of over one million was 36,000 rubles. Over the year, the rental rate has increased by 17.5%, Roman Zhukov, head of Yandex Rent service, told Realnoe Vremya.
One-room flats are the most in demand on the rental housing market. According to the results of December 2024, the share of views of one-bedroom flats in cities with a population of over one million was 40.8% of the total number of views of ads. This same type of apartment has increased in price the most: the median cost increased by 22.4% compared to January last year and amounted to 32,000 rubles.
The second most popular type of apartments are two-bedroom flats: almost every third view (29.8%) was for this type of apartment, Zhukov emphasised. The median cost of two-bedroom flats in the first ten days of January 2025 was at the level of 41,000 rubles, which is 18.2% higher than a year earlier.
At the end of 2024, studios accounted for 15.2% of ad views. The median cost of a studio in cities with a population of over one million in the first ten days of January was about 31,000 rubles. This is 17.2% more than in January 2024.
Three-bedroom flats accounted for only 7.9% of views in December. According to the results of the first ten days of January 2025, the cost of three-bedroom flats in cities with a population of over one million was just over 57 thousand rubles (+ 16.2% per year).
Rent in Kazan is more expensive than in other cities with a population of over one million in Russia
In Kazan, in December 2024, one-bedroom flats accounted for about 51% of views, while two-bedroom flats accounted for 37%. Three-room lots (4.8%) and studios (3.6%) come next, Zhukov said.
At the end of the first ten days of January, the median rental rate for flats of all room types in Kazan reached 50 thousand rubles (+25% compared to January 2024).
The median cost of a one-bedroom flat in Kazan was 40,000 rubles. This type of housing showed the greatest growth dynamics: an increase of 33.3% over the year. Two-bedroom flats have risen in price by a quarter over the year — their median cost was 50,000 rubles. Rental rates for three-bedroom flats in Kazan have increased by 22.8% over the past 12 months, reaching 80,000 rubles in January 2025.
“As for studio apartments, there are fewer offers of this format in Kazan than, for example, more popular one-room and two-bedroom flats. There are several dozen options for this format of flats on the long-term rental market in Kazan,” commented Roman Zhukov.
The supply volume has increased many times over for all types of flats, says Zhukov. This is largely due to the entry into the long-term rental market of “yesterday’s” new buildings, in which owners purchased investment housing for rent, as well as unsold apartments on the secondary market.
Housing will be rented out quickly
Additional demand for rentals will be provided by residents of other regions. According to the results of Yandex Rent’s study, Kazan turned out to be one of the most attractive cities with a population of over a million, which Russians are ready to consider for moving. More than half of the respondents (52%) could move to the capital of Tatarstan for a long period. The labour market here offers many opportunities for career and employment, the city is distinguished by the presence of a high-quality educational cluster, a developed economy and infrastructure. Therefore, not only local residents rent housing here for a long period, but also those who came from other regions of the country to work, live, and study. All this also affects the development of the rental market and the dynamics of demand, explains Zhukov.
Increased demand also stimulates an increase in the cost of housing. The trend for annual growth in rates will continue in the coming year. However, Zhukov expects that the growth will be more moderate than in 2024 and will be balanced by a slight decrease in prices on the market during off-season periods.
Housing will be rented out quickly. Yandex Rent calculated that the average exposure period of ads on the Kazan market in 2024 decreased from 15 to 9 days compared to 2023. “The trend towards a quick conclusion of a rental transaction will probably continue in 2025. At the same time, in the most active months for the market — August and September — the rental period may be shorter,” comments Zhukov.
The growth of the median rental price will also be due to the entry into the market of investment apartments purchased exclusively for rent. The cost of such lots is significantly higher than that of old housing stock or apartments in modern mass-market buildings, but built earlier. “Often such lots include good repairs, new furniture and appliances. Due to these parameters, apartments cost more and affect the median cost of long-term rent in the city as a whole,” he summarised.
High key rate made buying a home unaffordable
With the growth of the key rate and the increasing targeting of preferential programs, more and more potential buyers prefer to postpone the purchase of their own home and temporarily rent an apartment, say analysts at Domclick.
Head of Cian.Analytics Alexey Popov predicts an increase in rental rates in Russia by 15-18% in June-September during the period of high demand, as well as their subsequent correction by 5-7% at the end of the year.
“On the one hand, rates will be put under pressure by high prices for the purchase of housing, their combination with prohibitive mortgage rates. On the other hand, the slowdown in the growth of wages and incomes of the population, especially in the target audience of apartment renters in large cities, will not allow us to set new records for annual growth,” Popov believes.
According to his estimates, rental rates are ready to grow by 20-30%. The highest values can be expected and recorded in July and August 2025.
In popular locations in Kazan, rent last year increased by more than 25%. This year, the growth will continue.