The Russian overseas property market, Autumn 2012.
Autumn is always a busy period for Overseas Property buyers in Russia. Snow is now falling and as Russian prepares for another long cold winter we have prepared a round-up of the market based on data gathered at our exhibitions and through our Magazine and Portal.Exhibitions
20, 801 uniquely registered visitors!
This autumn there were 3 major exhibitions that specialise only in Property Abroad:-
• Moscow International Investment Show 12-13 October
• St. Petersburg International Property Show 26-27 October
• Moscow International Property Show 16-17 November
Successful business was reported at each with stabile numbers of both participants and visitors. “At the request of our participants we have reviewed our advertising policy with a view to improving the quality of the visitors. This was most successfully achieved with marginally lower numbers but a noticeable increase in the quality of the visitors” – states Kim Waddoup, CEO of the aiGroup. “As part of our drive for professionalism and transparency in our industry, we are the only organiser in Russia to provide each visitor with a unique bar-coded badge and scanners on each entrance. This enables us to provide exact data on the number of unique visitors to each of our events”
Magazine
International residence, Russia’s leading Overseas Property magazine reported a moderate increase in the total sales of display advertisements producing a hefty 164 page Autumn issue, that was distributed to all visitors at the above shows. “An interesting trend to note is that our advertisers are making larger commitments to advertising in Russia with a strong increase in the number of Double Page Spreads and Full Page advertisements” – quoted Svetlana Andryukina, Editor of International Residence, “success in Russia requires ‘image’ and our regular advertisers appreciate that a full page or double page spread conveys the stability and credibility of the company and project”. For the first time International Residence was published with a ‘French cover’ featuring the impressive Varyap Meridian project in Antalya.
“It is a well recognised fact that Russians still love to read printed magazines. Over the years we have created a vast network of exclusive outlets that enable us to place our publication directly into the hands of wealthy Russians” – Andryukina. The spring issue of International Residence is already in progress and the deadline for inclusion in the next issue is 20 January 2013.
Internet
A major milestone occurred recently in Internet commerce as Russia over-took Germany to take first place in Europe for the largest number of Internet users (67,982,547) with a penetration of 47.7% representing 13.1% of the total in Europe. In addition a report by East West Digital News indicates that internet commerce grew by a staggering 25% in the last year and is already valued at $.10.5 bn!
Traffic to 1-property.ru, Russia’s most popular overseas property portal increased by 20% in the last year with an average of 5,000 unique visitors per day. “Developers and agents clearly understand the importance of a professional portal in Russia and that is why so many advertise with us! Not only with property listings but also with banner campaigns as they recognise the importance of brand recognition and credibility in Russia” – quoted Olesya Zubova the Project Manager at 1-property.ru
The top 40 most searched destinations for Russians did not change much over the year with Bulgaria and Spain remaining at the top followed by Italy, Turkey, Montenegro, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, France and the Czech Republic.
Whilst the market is dominated by Moscow (40%) and St. Petersburg (10%) there has been a marked increase from the regions of Russia which now account for 50% of all visitors on 1-property.ru
Looking forward to 2013
The Russian economy is buoyant, un-employment is down, inflation is minimal and salaries are increasing. “The Russian middle class is growing extremely fast and they have disposable income. They have renovated their apartments, they have a house in the country and a nice car, now they are looking for property abroad! My predictions for 2013 are a constant increase with the value of individual sales increasing within the next 12 months. It will be a good year for developers and agents that are specialised in the Russian market” – concludes Kim Waddoup.
Major events specialising only in overseas property in Russia in Spring 2013:
Bulgarian Home Exhibition 08-09 February
Moscow International Investment Show 08-09 March
St. Petersburg International Property Show 29-30 March
Moscow International Property Show 12-13 April
Moscow Golf & Luxury Property Show 19-20 April
About the aiGroup:
The aiGroup is the market leader in Russia for property abroad with 9 exhibitions per year, the leading overseas property Magazine, International Residence and Russia’s most popular overseas property portal 1-property.
www.aiGroup.ru