OREANDA-NEWS  A quarter of Russians postponed the purchase of housing amid the lack of a massive preferential mortgage and high interest rates on it, Calltouch told RIA Real Estate.

Since November 15, Sberbank has increased market mortgage rates by 3.5 percentage points: for primary housing - up to 28.4%, for secondary housing - up to 28.1%. The increase occurred against the background of a record key rate, currently at 21% per annum.

"It turned out that many people are taking a wait-and-see attitude: 24% of respondents are ready to make a purchase decision only after the market stabilizes. This caution is associated with an increase in the interest rate and the cancellation of preferential mortgages," the company noted.

In addition, according to her data, about 14% of Russians are ready to make a deal if the developer offers a discount, and 17% of respondents decided to abandon the mortgage in favor of savings, while 14% prefer to rent a house.

The company points out that, given the current market situation, it has become more difficult for developers to attract buyers to their facilities. "The real estate market is changing, just increasing traffic is no longer enough to maintain sales. Even with the increase in traffic to developers' websites, the number of requests fell by 78% over the year. Rates are rising, mortgage programs are being curtailed, users are interested in real estate, look at objects, but are in no hurry to enter into a deal. Only an increase in the advertising budget will not help," said Artur Sargsyan, Commercial director of Calltouch.

However, with a decrease in demand, the cost of advertising increases, and attracting one client costs developers more and more, the company added.