According to the results of sales for the first quarter of 2024, the demand of Russians to purchase foreign real estate decreased by 20%.
According to experts, this trend is primarily the result of a significant decrease in transactions for immigration (-45%). At the same time, interest in housing as an investment, on the contrary, increased by 7%. However, this was not enough to compensate for the decline.
It should be noted that the tightening of procedures for payment of foreign assets and the closure of many countries immigration programs for Russians affected their preferences for investment in real estate. The ranking of the most popular foreign countries for buying housing from Russian citizens has changed dramatically.
So, the demand fell on real estate in Cyprus, mainly because of the complications of the process of transactions. Recall that previously Cyprus was for Russian citizens "reserve airfield" for obtaining a second passport or permanent residence permit in Cyprus, capital transfer, and purchase of housing in a location where, if desired, you can move in the future. After the closure of programs to obtain citizenship or residence permit for the purchase of real estate Russians are no longer interested in the Caribbean and Portugal.
Now the investment interests of Russian buyers continue to concentrate on the Eastern and Asian directions.
Rating of the most sought-after foreign countries in the first quarter was headed by Thailand with a share of 30%. The second place among the most demanded by Russians investment destinations with a share of 13% of the total number of transactions took the island of Bali (Indonesia). The third place among Russian investors was occupied by the Middle East countries - UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Bahrain. These states accounted for 11% of the total volume of transactions abroad in the first quarter of this year. Demand for real estate in the Middle East region from January to March 2024 increased by 15% relative to data for the same period in 2023.