End of year round up on what is happening in the Russian Overseas Property Market (December 2013)

Autumn is traditionally a busy time as Russians realise that the summer weather is ending, signalling the start of yet another long and cold winter. With snow and ice plus short days from November to March, an increasing number of Russians are looking into the possibilities of buying abroad.

The aiGroup organised 3 specialised overseas property exhibitions in October & November in addition to co-organising the professional Russian Overseas Property Summit, a B2B event.

The Moscow Overseas Property & Investment Show took place in October just as the first frosts came and attracted 6,352 visitors to meet with the 181 Exhibitors over the two days of the event. At this show, exhibitors generally present the investment advantages of overseas property and a targeted promotional campaign attracts investment-orientated visitors. While many Russians are wary of off-plan developments we now see a few returning to the market. Specialised investments into apartments in with a guaranteed income appeared to attract a lot of interest as did the countries that now offer extended residency permits or visas.

St. Petersburg is an often neglected market. However as Russia’s second largest city with a population of 4.88 million and a most attractive investment climate, there is almost a “micro climate” in the city. Whilst budgets are generally not as high as in Moscow, there are still substantial numbers of people looking to buy property abroad. The proximity of Finland means that Scandinavia is high on the list but Spain and Turkey are not far behind. Our 138 exhibitors had the opportunity to meet with the 7,216 visitors that stormed the LenExpo exhibition hall eager for information and details on properties abroad.

We co-organise the Russian Overseas Property Summit with Global-edge from the UK. As a pure B2B event we welcome 26 International agents and developers who come to Moscow to learn about the market from a range of highly qualified speakers. In the afternoon these participants can present their properties to more than 170 professional overseas property agents from Moscow and the Moscow region. Once again the conference facilities of the Korston Hotel were packed with eager agents looking for developments for their clients.

The crown of the overseas Property Market events is most certainly the Moscow International Property Show now celebrating 10 years of success in Moscow. Our largest event, the Moscow Property Show attracted 211 Exhibitors from around the world and a record breaking 8,054 visitors to the 2 day show. It was hot in the hall despite the temperatures outside, as eager Russians were looking for property abroad. Whilst the favourites still appear to be Spain, Bulgaria and Turkey there was tremendous interest for specialised destinations such as Czech Republic, Montenegro, Austria and Thailand.

So it was a busy Autumn with all our exhibitors returning home satisfied with many hot leads to follow up on. Also no time for rest for the staff of the aiGroup who are busy co-ordinating and preparing their busy Spring schedule

14-15 February - Bulgarian Home Exhibition
14-15 March - Moscow Overseas Property & Investment Show
04-05 April - St. Petersburg Overseas Property Show
11-12 April - Moscow International Property Show
25-26 April - Moscow Golf & Luxury Property Show

Book early as some of these events already have waiting lists for premium stands!

Kim Waddoup
Moscow December 2013