St. Petersburg, 2 December 2022. Real estate investments, including land plots acquisition, in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region totalled over $1.6 billion in January-November 2022. More than a half of the total sum - $1.0 billion, or 68% - was invested in land plots for development, including $913 million worth of land for residential projects.

Overall, in January through November 2022, developers purchased for residential projects more than 1,500 ha of land, which is 71% more than in 2021, when they acquired a total of some 900 ha.

The fact that total investment in land assets fell by 40%, while the total acreage of acquired land increased, is attributed to higher demand for land plots outside St. Petersburg’s urban areas, where the price of land per square meter is lower than within the city. Some 90% of land plots acquired in 2022 are located outside the St. Petersburg Ring Road. The largest plot was bought by A101 Group, this company purchased a total of some 900 ha of land for residential development projects in the villages Korpikyulya (in the Gatchina district) and Lagolovo (in the Lomonosov district) and in the town of Vsevolozhsk. Meanwhile, Samolet Group made an investment to acquire 80.5 ha of land in the village Novosaratovka (in the Vsevolozhsk district).

Also, still active are some niche-oriented development firms with a focus on premium projects, these companies concentrate on land plots available for infill development within existing built-up areas. Thus, RBI purchased four relatively small plots in the city’s Petrogradsky and Vasilyevsky Ostrod districts.