St. Petersburg, 3 February 2023. In 2022, the size of housing units offered for sale in St. Petersburg averaged out at 51.1 sq. m, down from 57.7 sq. m in 2021.

According to Nikoliers analysts, the average new housing unit size shrinkage is observed across all the segments of the residential property market. The average comfort-class housing unit shrank by 6.8 sq. m in 2022 to 44.5 sq. m. The size of an average business-class unit reduced to 61.1 sq. m, down 13.1 sq. m from 2020. The decline was most pronounced in the premium-class segment – to 89.1 sq. m per unit of new housing in 2022 from 115.8 sq. m in 2020.

Consumers’ preferences also changed in favour of more compact dwellings. In 2022, the average size of sold housing units in St. Petersburg shrank to 40.2 sq. m (down 2.3 sq. m from 2021). In the premium segment the average size of sold new housing reduced by 7.6 sq. m to 71.3 sq. m, in the business-class and comfort-class segments – by 5.5 sq. m to 49.8 sq. m and by 1.8 sq. m to 38.2 sq. m, respectively.

Meanwhile, the average ticket for new housing in St,. Petersburg in 2022 alone rose by 16% to 8.5 million roubles. In the comfort-class segment the average price for a new housing unit added 18% y-o-y to 7.3 million roubles, new business-class dwellings appreciated on average by 11% to 14.2 million roubles, the average price for new premium-class homes was up 15% to 29.9 million roubles.

Elisaveta Conway, Nikoliers regional director for residential property and land development department: “The weighted average costs of new property per square meter in St. Petersburg last year increased by 19.5%, and it had an impact on the average ticket for buyers. A readjustment of prices is possible, if the market supply goes up, but developers so far have not been interested to market all of their projects and supply on their side remains limited. Many companies are trying to create a deficit of supply to prop up housing prices on the current levels.”