Business 5 Major Real Estate Market Technology Trends and Innovations in 2022

This year, the primary real estate market will be more stable than in the past. Housing, though, will become more expensive, but smoothly. And by the end of the year, it may even become cheaper, given that current prices significantly exceed the purchasing power. According to experts, the price increase will depend on the exchange rate of the national currency and the cost of construction. At the same time, some believe that the first half of the year will be quiet for the market.

We’ve chosen the Top 5 Major Real Estate Market Technology Trends and Innovations for this year. 

Apartments will become smaller

Growing development costs force market participants to optimize the area of apartments. For example, for 11 months of 2021, the average square footage of lots in mass new buildings decreased by 5.7 sq. m. (to 49.2 sq. m.), and if we consider over the past three years, then by 10 sq. m. "This happens for two reasons. Firstly, there is an optimization of planning solutions and the rejection of extra meters. Secondly, developers, against the background of continuing price growth and rising mortgage prices, are constantly bringing to the market the most affordable and in-demand options (studios and studio apartments), which affects the size of the average square footage," said Natalia Sazonova, Development Director of Metrium (a member of the CBRE partner network).

Finished product and quick solutions

The trend for a finished product and quick solutions is something that the market has already encountered, and the demand for it will grow. According to Petro Kirillovsky, Director of the Product Development Department of the FGC Group, there are more and more offers with ready-made solutions, for example, apartments with finishing. And if earlier it was typical for comfort-class projects, now such an offer is becoming popular in business class.  "For example, in our two new high-price segment projects there are no apartments without finishing. The buyer no longer wants to waste time on global repairs. Some developers began to offer furniture. The trend for mixed-use can also be attributed to quick solutions, which were thoroughly consolidated in 2021. Therefore, we will increasingly hear about multifunctional projects where the concept of a 15-minute city is being implemented," the speaker says.

High-quality projects and thoughtful landscaping

According to Elyzaveta Sevastyanova, Commercial Director of Tekta Group, the key trend of 2021 was the trend for high-quality projects and thoughtful landscaping. The development of the trend was largely facilitated by preferential mortgages, which helped many families to increase the class of housing purchased and, in general, made the buyer more demanding on the zoning of the house territory and the functionality of the layouts. "The trend for quality will last for a long time, but in 2022, developers will be forced to take a more meaningful approach to fill their projects in order to contain price increases in the face of rising inflation, the key rate, and the cost of construction. All this will give rise to a trend for rational development in 2022," says Elyzaveta Sevastyanova.

Sustainable development and green technologies

One of the most noticeable trends of the outgoing year was ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance – environmental, social, and corporate governance). "We are confident that this direction will only develop in the next five years. Banks have declared their readiness to support developers within the framework of "green lending" by launching special products that meet the ESG agenda," says Natalia Ermakova, Commercial Director of the residential complex home city. According to her, the developers, in turn, noted their readiness to follow the strategy of sustainable development, create a comfortable social environment, and certify buildings according to green standards. 

Collective investment in real estate

Experts also predict an increase in the number of mutual funds created for investments in real estate – warehouse, office, retail and residential. "For example, PARUS Asset Management offers collective investments in warehouse real estate funds. Such companies will be actively developing in the next 5 years, and the interest of the population in such investment methods will increase," Viktoriya Kovalenko believes. If these companies start not only buying assets and packing them into mutual funds but also building residential complexes with the involvement of developers, then this can seriously change the balance of power in the development market.

And 2 more bonus trends for this year:

The trend for aesthetics and comfort

Developers are becoming more serious about the appearance of their projects and the creation of a comfortable environment in and around the residential complexes themselves because this is what the target audience has a request for. According to Maria Mogilevtseva-Golovina, product director of the development group "City-XXI century", this is a trend for aesthetics, because if a few years ago only 40% of buyers spoke about the high importance of the parameter "Architecture", then in 2020-2021 the importance of the appearance of the project is noted by the majority of buyers. The second most important trend is the creation of a comfortable environment that should be convenient for an audience of all ages. Moreover, we are talking not only about common areas and equipment of the house territory, given the transition of many to "remote", but a variety of planning solutions has also become important for the consumer.

High post-client service

More and more developers realize that it is not enough just to sell an apartment to a buyer, it is necessary to provide high post-client service. "Many developers are developing this area and creating their own management companies. We have it called the Service company "Comfort Territory''. We do more than is expected of us, in addition to the standard set of services we provide: repair, apartment insurance, electrician's assistance, plumbing, home appliance repair, etc.," said Iskander Yusupov, Deputy General Director of the development company "Unistroy". According to him, developers are increasingly digitizing their projects, what used to be considered "chips - mobile applications, video surveillance systems, and a "smart home" - have already become the norm.