2.12.2025
The real estate market in the occupied Crimea has been hit by a serious crisis.
The construction of new housing is being frozen because the war has left a huge hole in the Russian budget, so almost all preferential mortgage loans have been canceled. And the population has no money again because of the economic crisis. Overdue mortgages are growing, and soon banks will start taking away square meters from Russians and residents of Crimea en masse. And then the secondary housing market has also stopped because of scammers.
Read more about this in the OBOZ.UA article.
Apartment prices in Yalta are higher than in Sochi
Realtors on the occupied peninsula are inventing new and different ways to somehow sell real estate on the peninsula to Crimean residents or Russians. Some are even recording videos in which they talk about the “pluses” of life in Crimea.
They assure that there is already complete import substitution here, instead of foreign brands there are ordinary multi-brand stores that somehow import branded clothing to the occupied peninsula. They do not specify, although they say that buying it here will be much more expensive, and the choice is very small. After all, you can’t smuggle much into the country.
They claim that there are three mobile phone networks operating in Crimea, although only one of them has Russian registration, while the other two are Crimean. Most importantly, they do not mention that sirens and explosions are heard very often on the peninsula.
They don’t admit to problems with gasoline, its high price, queues at gas stations, and high food prices, especially in the summer.
Real estate sellers are now using the main argument to lure buyers to the occupied peninsula. They assure that the “SVO” is about to end, the airport in Simferopol will open, tourists will flock here, and there is an urgent need to buy housing to live and relax by the Black Sea.
Advertising through social networks and bloggers was so ramped up that real estate prices in Yalta turned out to be higher than in Sochi, and in Alushta – higher than in Anapa.
An unpleasant surprise awaits the Russians
However, buyers are still struggling with money. Although some bloggers claim that people have hundreds of millions of rubles stashed away, and that the SVOShniki (meat puppets–OFP) will return with money, not everyone has the money.
Sanctions and the economic crisis in Russia due to the war have done their job in almost four years. People are losing their jobs, their salaries are being cut, they are being forced to work a four-day week, and they are being laid off.
Small and medium-sized businesses cannot withstand the economic downturn and are closing. Not to mention the fact that the state itself has become so impoverished that the mortgage bubble, inflated by endless preferential loans, has already burst.
Starting next year, Russians and residents of occupied Crimea will be in for a new “surprise.” They will have their so-called family mortgage, the last state aid for buying a home, seriously reduced (when parents with children were allowed to take out two housing loans at 6%).
But paradise is over. Now a family can only take out one preferential mortgage. Moreover, the interest rate depends on the number of children. If there is one child in the family, then you will have to pay 12% per annum (and that’s a lot). If there are two children – 6%, three or more – 4%.
“If a family has three or more children, then even 4% is an unbearable amount for them, and where there are two, 6% is also a lot. Not to mention 12%. Young families want to arrange their nest before having children, and not pay crazy money while mom is on maternity leave and dad is working two jobs,” Russians write indignantly.
The rest, who are not eligible for a family mortgage, have to pay from 18% to 24% for the loan, since the key rate in the Russian Federation is 16.5%, and banks always overstate the interest rates for customers.
“Valley Syndrome” has undermined the secondary housing market
Preferential mortgage lending in the Russian Federation has led to a significant increase in the prices of new buildings. Now the start of construction of new residential complexes is being postponed indefinitely, and complexes that have already been started are being frozen, since most of the apartments have not been purchased.
Developers have a hard time finding people willing to invest that kind of money in unfurnished apartments, and they don’t want to lower prices.
In addition, the number of overdue housing loans in the Russian Federation has seriously increased. And soon the moment will come when banks will massively seize square meters from Russians.
And a new disaster has hit the secondary housing market. After the high-profile scandal with the famous Russian singer Larisa Dolina , who first sold her huge apartment and then returned it through the courts, leaving buyers “with a hole in her pocket”, there is no longer any trust in the secondary housing market.
“Everyone is afraid that the elderly owner of a “Khrushchev” or “Brezhnevka” apartment, after receiving the money, will run to court to break the contract. She will claim that she was deceived by unscrupulous buyers, who tricked her. And the court will side with the grandmother and take the apartment away,” a realtor from Crimea explains the essence of the problem.
The scheme is not new, but it has recently gained widespread popularity in the Russian Federation. It is actively used by apartment scammers, including in occupied Crimea.
“The rest, who are not eligible for a family mortgage, have to pay from 18% to 24% for the loan…”
To pay off a relatively small loan of $100,000 in 5 years with the “modest” 18% interest rate, you would need to make a monthly payment of approximately $2,539. The total interest paid would be around $52,340.
To pay off in 10 years, you must make monthly payments of approximately $1,802. The total interest paid would be around $116,240.
To pay off in 15 years, the monthly payment would amount to approximately $1,688. The total interest paid would exceed $203,000.
Watching a terrorist state going broke is so much fun. I wish to see more cities burning, though.