Wealthy Russians massively flee abroad

Every third seller of luxury real estate is going to leave Russia.

Фото: Depositphotos

Domestic millionaires can not stand the "life" in the homeland and go abroad, reports Газета.Ру Every third Russian who owns luxury real estate would like to sell it in order to move to another country. According to analysts, more than half of Russians with a fortune over $ 50 million already have a second citizenship. In search of a better life, wealthy fellow citizens choose Cyprus, Malta, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.

Owners of luxury real estate in Russia have recently been increasingly selling their property, and a third of them - with the aim of going to live abroad. These conclusions were made by the specialists of the group of companies. Kalinka Groupwho conducted research in this market segment.

In absolute terms, the number of owners of luxury real estate who want to emigrate from Russia, has increased in 4,5 times, according to the study.

“Analyzing the behavior of owners of elite real estate, we observe that Russian millionaires are actively leaving Russia. Most of the reasons cite economic instability and the current political situation. Many admit that it is becoming increasingly difficult to do business in Russia, ”comments Ekaterina Rumyantseva, Chairman of the Board of Directors. Kalinka Group.

Over the past three years, starting with the crisis 2014, the number of people willing to sell expensive houses and apartments in Russia has tripled.

And if at the beginning of the crisis and the sharp jump in the exchange rate, the share of those who want to sell real estate to leave the country was 20% of the total number of applications for sale, by now it has grown to 30%.

"Only in the first quarter of the year 2018 received the same number of calls for sale, how many were taken for the entire 2013 year," the study notes. A similar picture was observed at the end of last year.

At the same time, prices on the Russian real estate market are stagnating, and in April they fell significantly, even in dollar terms. The real estate market index from 2015 of the year is below $ 3 thousand, collapsing from $ 5453 dollars reached on March 31 of 2013 of the year, says Maxim Osadchy, head of the analytical department of the BKF bank.

At the same time, there is no increase in capital outflow from Russia: the net outflow in the first quarter of 2018 amounted to $ 13,4 billion against $ 16,4 billion in the first quarter of 2017.

“The number of apartments for sale since the end of 2014 has increased by approximately 30%. However, it is worth noting that over the past 6-9 months, the number of transactions in this segment has increased, so there is now a certain balance between the new offer and the absorption of such objects, ”said Dmitry Khalin, managing partner Savills in Russia.

Where are wealthy Russians going

The wealthy Russians themselves, according to Rumyantseva, most often choose Cyprus, Malta, Great Britain and Switzerland as their new refuge.

Despite the intensification of the struggle with Russian capital, diplomatic scandals and the “Skripal case”, Russians continue to invest in real estate in London. “The portrait of the buyer is represented here by a very wide target audience, as well as the budgets of purchases,” said Ekaterina Rumyantseva.

The amounts of transactions start from 1,5 million pounds ($ 2,07 million) - for this amount you can buy an apartment in a new building, and reach 80-100 million pounds ($ 110-137 million). The average budget for a UK property transaction is 5-10 million pounds ($ 7-13,7 million).

Property worth over $ 8 million in the British capital is elite. Prices for this segment of housing for the year increased by 7,3%.

So, an elite penthouse from 160 to 300 square. meters in the new project with a view of the Thames and the main symbols of the British capital, the Tower and Tower Bridge, costs from 5,74 million ($ 7,91) to 9,98 million pounds ($ 13,75 million).

A little more expensive will cost the Russians to move to Switzerland. Here, notes Kalinka Group, shopping budgets start from 10 million euros. Requests for Switzerland come from very wealthy clients, and this trend has become popular thanks to a simplified passport program, Rumyantseva said.

Russians are particularly attracted by countries where residence permit (residence permit) programs work through the purchase of real estate or investments.

For example, in Spain there is a simplified scheme for obtaining a residence permit - to use it, you need to make a purchase in the amount of 500 thousand euros.

Interesting wealthy Russians and Cyprus. The procedure for obtaining citizenship takes six months here; to obtain it, the client does not need to live in Cyprus before or after. In addition, investments in Cyprus are returnable: after three years of owning real estate, an investor can sell it, leaving residential property in the value of at least 500 thousand euros. And for the purchase of housing costing from 2 million euros, you can issue a passport with European citizenship.

Malta became popular with the rich, where they had previously traveled, mainly, owners of relatively modest capitals. "However, in the last six months, customers began to appear with budgets from 5 million euros," draws the attention of Rumyantsev.

According to the companies Henley & Partners and Knight Frank, in the first two months of 2017, Malta became the most attractive country in Europe for the cost of a passport.

To obtain the citizenship of Malta, it is enough to invest 1,2 million euros in the country, including non-refundable payments to the National Fund of Malta, return investments and the cost of buying or renting housing.

According to Marina Shalaeva, director of overseas real estate and private investment companies Knight Frank, Now EU citizenship buyers are actively investing their money in the purchase of commercial real estate, in order not only to live in the country, but also to receive income in it. Compared with residence permit programs, second passports are more popular with Russians because they provide an opportunity to work and study in Europe.

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