Angelina Radko: “Kuban housing market will be supported by investments”

Angelina Radko, commercial DIRECTOR of the Semya construction company, spoke about new approaches to housing construction,dynamics of demand and cost of apartments

The housing quality factor today is determined not only by the condition of the living space, but also by the arrangement of the adjacent territory, the availability of social infrastructure and a comfortable environment. Developers in the Krasnodar Territory will have to improve the quality of the product in 2022, taking into account the growth in construction costs, unstable demand and closed airports.

— What did the construction market of the Krasnodar Territory face after February 2022? Has the company had to suspend projects?

— Over the past five months, many factors have influenced demand. In March, it was a rush, and we attribute this to the news about the increase in mortgage rates, rather than the February events. An important role was played by the closure of the Krasnodar airport, since for the region a significant factor influencing demand is the migration flow. And, of course, in the conditions of non-working air harbors, many clients from the regions who were planning to buy real estate in the south during their holidays, these intentions were postponed.

In addition, after the rate hike and the subsequent gradual cuts, people waited for the time when the rate would be even more affordable, which also affected demand. At the same time, virtually all developers offer the purchase of housing at a subsidized rate. This offer is interesting for customers even with an increased price by the amount of commission to banks for lowering the interest. Yes, the upfront cost is higher, but the mortgage overpayment and monthly payment is much better for people in the long run.

Secondary housing has fallen in price due to the fact that demand has fallen - 90% of transactions are made on mortgages, and it is difficult to compete with the subsidized rate of primary housing.

Our company, despite the circumstances, continued the construction of all current projects. Moreover, we are actively designing new complexes, and this work has not stopped. Now developers and buyers of real estate are mutually protected by the mechanism of project bank financing and state support programs. The nearest delivery of the residential complex is scheduled for the beginning of next year - the last houses of the residential complex "Svetlograd" will be completed.

- What is the situation now - is the market still declining, or has it already returned to its usual values? When do you expect demand to recover?

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- It depends on what to compare with - the market before covid-19 or after. Because the growth in demand was precisely during this period due to the emergence of preferential mortgages. In 2022, a drop was actually observed in May and June for comfort-class housing. The business class did not feel a strong decline. And this is a trend not only in the Krasnodar Territory, but in RUSSIA as a whole.

In July, the situation has relatively leveled off, but people continue to expect price reductions, focusing on secondary housing, which some urgently sell, but these are isolated offers. There will be no reduction in the primary market, and as long as the mortgage rate is low, I would recommend purchasing new buildings. Also, in an unstable foreign exchange market, this is the best investment for savings.

- What format of housing is in demand today, has this picture changed in recent months? How has the company's sales structure changed?

“Today, the market is dominated by comfort and comfort plus, which is why the demand in this segment is higher. If we consider the area of ​​apartments, then in Krasnodar in the structure of sales more than 2/3 are occupied by one-room and two-room apartments. This distribution has not changed significantly in our Krasnodar projects over the past few months. The only thing is that they began to buy kopeck pieces more often, since the family mortgage program is actively working.

— How marginal is the construction business in general today — has its profitability changed in 2022? Has the cost increased, and in what segments?

- It is possible to calculate the profitability for six months, but this is not entirely objective. The profitability of the project is assessed upon its completion. But in 2022 there are definitely several factors that affect the increase in construction costs. Firstly, the cost of materials, and secondly, their availability, logistics and the search for analogues, because this also affects the final cost per square meter and availability for buyers.

For example, the project of our company residential complex "Svetlograd" is at the stage of completion, and by the end of the year all work will be completed, which allows us to keep prices from a significant increase. In the Vse Svoy residential complex project, on the territory of which a school and a kindergarten are being built, we are moving according to the established financial model. And new projects are already calculated on the basis of current market realities. The average price at the start of the project is planned to be about 120 thousand rubles per sq. m. m. At the moment, this is the standard average price for new residential complexes.

— In 2022, bank rates increased significantly, including on mortgages. Will it be possible to maintain the previous pace of sales in the new conditions?

— If there are subsidies, the demand will remain, and it would be higher with the migration flow. Therefore, while the airport is closed, significantly fewer people are ready to overcome the long journey to the south, and developers cannot influence these factors. But we are engaged in the development of remote transactions, improving digital tools. For example, in the Vse Svoy residential complex, we made an online tour of the future courtyard: a person can walk in real space and feel the atmosphere. We have also implemented a tour of the apartments using virtual reality, in which you can evaluate both the layout and the view from the window. About 90% of our transactions go through the electronic registration system, as a result, the client today can purchase an apartment, so to speak, “on the couch”.

— What is the current average cost per square meter in the region?

— The cost per square meter today is divided into three categories: basic, including subsidized mortgages and taking into account repairs, since these are the most common types of transactions. The average price tag is about 130-150 thousand rubles per square meter. m.

— What districts of Krasnodar will be most actively built up in the coming years? Which of them do you consider the most promising?

- The areas of the Western and Eastern bypass of Krasnodar are actively developing. Taking into account the new local and regional urban planning standards, in all future projects, a school and a kindergarten should be put into operation along with the first stage of construction. This presupposes the development of complex construction, and in Krasnodar this can only be implemented in the designated areas.

— Do you plan to launch new projects in 2022?

“Family has a large land bank in the Krasnodar Territory, and the company's strategy does not yet imply growth in other regions. Now we are simultaneously working on several projects in Krasnodar and Novorossiysk, we plan to launch some of them this year.

- What approaches to the construction of housing will dominate? What principles are you guided by now and how does your growth strategy correlate with urban development policy in the region?

— Definitely, the quality of new housing will improve in the construction market of the region. It will become more comfortable and change consumer demand. Using the example of our company, I can say that new projects are love at first sight. We have always built according to the principle as for ourselves, in all our facilities there is a school and a kindergarten, walking alleys. In the residential complex "Svetlograd", for example, there is a well-maintained green alley with a length of about 1 km. The height of the houses in it is from 8 floors, which is not typical for new buildings in Krasnodar. In the Vse Svoi residential complex, our residents have their own children's room and coworking space, which they can use without restrictions.

In the new realities of urban planning, there are the following norms: the number of storeys of a block is clearly regulated by the percentage of buildings up to and from 9 floors. There are social facilities that are required to be built and put into operation with the first stage of construction. Alleys and squares are what has already been put on the urban planning maps of each land plot on which it is planned to build residential buildings. New formats of housing appear, such as apartments with a terrace on the ground floor, master bedrooms and kitchen-living rooms, euro-plans.

The improvement of the territories will also reach a new level, because landscaping is also normalized. Against this background, today the development community talks a lot about the product, its own standards. Note that beautiful porches are already the standard, and playgrounds are becoming more and more interesting even within different letters of the same project. The service of management companies is also being developed to make it comfortable for people to live in houses after purchase, and they remain loyal to their residential complex.

SK "Semya" is one of the largest construction companies in the Krasnodar Territory. According to the Unified Resource of Developers (erzrf.ru), at the end of 2021, the company entered the TOP-3 developers of the Kuban in terms of housing commissioning, and since July, it has been in the top three in terms of consumer qualities of residential complexes.

For 8 years of work, IC "Semya" has put into operation 36 houses with a total area of ​​345,000 sq. m without delay, a quarter of them ahead of schedule. At the moment, the developer is building 176,000 c. meters of housing, including 3 apartment buildings of the Svetlograd residential complex and 5 apartment buildings of the Vse svoi residential complex in Krasnodar.

The construction is carried out in accordance with the law on shared construction, the financial partner is Bank DOM.RF. The company's land bank exceeds 2 million square meters.