Russian Overseas Property Market - End of Spring 2014 Season Report

The year started on a good note in Russia with national pride high for the forthcoming Olympics and despite a negative media effort, the games passed safely and successfully. Then the situation with Ukraine started. Whilst this may seem quite worrying around the world as well as in Russia, it has not affected business in any negative form to date. In fact almost the opposite! More Russians are looking to invest in property abroad and to do it faster. The majority of exhibitors at our shows have reported a marked increase in sales and in the number of people planning inspection trips in the near future.

The Spring season commenced with the Bulgarian Home Exhibition 14-15 February. Russians have a special affinity for Bulgaria/the Black Sea and the exhibition was busy and lively with good crowds of eager buyers highly interested in the offers presented.

Statistics: 76 Exhibitors (Bulgaria).
5,912 visitors

This was followed by the Moscow Overseas Property & Investment Show 14-15 March which took place just as the Ukrainian crisis was deepening. There were concerns that the media frenzy had created a 'doom & gloom' impression of Russia, but whilst concern was prevalent, it was business as usual. The only exception being the comments from our exhibitors, that they were experiencing a general trend towards earlier inspection visits and more genuine/specific enquiries.

Statistics: 160 Exhibitors representing 27 International destinations.
5,907 visitors.

Early April saw the overseas property market focus on St. Petersburg for the St. Petersburg International Property Show 4-5 April. Russia's second largest city has a somewhat different perspective with other destinations and requirements. Again exhibitors reported increased interest and earlier than normal inspection visits being planned.

Statistics: 124 Exhibitors representing 25 International destinations.
6,350 visitors

The Moscow International Property Workshop, Russia's premier B2B workshop, took place on April 10th providing a professional business platform for the 15 International developers to meet and present their products directly to Russian agents actively selling overseas property. With more than 130 agents visiting during the day all participants left with substantial contacts for business through the agent sector.

Statistics: 15 participants representing 12 countries.
148 professional visitors.

The highlight of each season is always the Moscow International Property Show 10-11 April which brings specialists from all around the world to Moscow's premier event. Despite a competing event on the same dates(!) this show still proved its popularity with the 2 halls packed on both days.

Statistics: 191 Exhibitors representing 34 International destinations.
7,290 visitors

The final event of the Spring calendar is the Moscow Golf & Luxury Property Show 26-27 April which combined golf & luxury property with spectacular results. Marketing for the event targets to higher income bracket in addition to golfers, so lower numbers but much higher quality visitors.

Statistics: 82 Exhibitors representing 25 International destinations.
3,766 visitors

With the sun now shining and warmer weather banishing the memories of the last winter the Spring Property Shows in Russian drew to a close. The political situation continues to dominate the news with counter accusations and threats on both sides. All our exhibitors have returned home with completed sales from previous events and substantial numbers of potential leads to work on though the Summer.

In a strong indication of their commitment to the Russian market and in an overwhelming display of their confidence that the market will continue to grow despite the political situation, we experienced a higher than average demand from exhibitors confirming their participation and stands for the Autumn events.

With the absence of a crystal ball it is hard to predict what will happen. No one wants an escalation of the situation and we hope that this will not come. However the principal of buying property abroad is now firmly established in Russia and those specialising in this market will continue to reap the benefits despite the challenges!

Autumn Russian Property Shows schedule:-

10-11 October 15th Moscow Overseas Property & Investment Show
17-18 October 13th St. Petersburg International Property Show
14 November 6th Moscow International Property Workshop
14-15 November 23rd Moscow International Property Show

It is important to note that the aiGroup is the only organiser in Moscow to use individually issued barcodes on all visitor's badges to enable a transparent and detailed count of the exact number of visitors to our shows.

www.aiGroup.ru