Russia is experiencing a new wave of housing boom. Developers are actively stocked with permits for the construction of new square meters, and buyers are lining up for apartments. Increased demand and new rules of the game on the housing market, designed to protect the interests of customers, will lead to higher housing prices. In the first half of 2018 in the capital region, the number of concluded equity agreements increased by 42% compared to the same period of the year of the past. Their number reached 75 thousand. The volume of mortgage issued increased by 1.5 times compared with last year's indicator, the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta". Since July in the Russian Federation, new legislative norms regulating housing construction have entered into force and which market participants have accepted with bayonets. Builders were in a hurry to issue permits for construction under the old rules, so in the first half of the year the number of permits issued in Moscow grew 3.5 times compared to January-June 2017, in Moscow - 2.5 times. Meanwhile, property prices are rising. Since the beginning of the year, the cost per square meter in Moscow's new buildings rose by 4%. By the end of the year, according to the forecast of experts, prices will increase by another 4%. The rise in property prices is caused by a number of factors. The main one is the introduction of new norms. Now when buying an apartment in a newly built house, citizens' money will be received on escrow accounts. With them, the funds will be transferred to the developer only after putting the facility into operation. This measure (as well as protection of funds through the Deposit Insurance Agency for 10 million rubles) will significantly reduce the risks of the developer failing to fulfill his obligations, long-term construction and unfinished construction. However, such a scheme will reduce the profitability of development projects, and additional costs will lead to an increase in prices. In the face of declining profitability, it will not be easy for developers to dare to build new residential complexes. In other words, not all the building permits obtained will be realized. The launch of new houses on the market by the end of the year will not change the structure of the proposal. In addition, the depolopers were forbidden to build through the housing and communal services, and such objects on the market were about 4-5%. All this will lead to the fact that demand exceeds supply, which means that developers have every reason to continue raising prices. At the same time, buying activity will grow. Firstly, this will be due to a decrease in mortgage rates. Now the basic rates for housing loans are already 7.1-9.5% subject to life insurance of the borrower and confirmation of his income. Under the family mortgage program, rates start from 6%. The head of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, recently said that the cost of mortgages has the potential to further reduce. The second reason for the increase in demand will be the investment attractiveness of liquid assets. Buyers are ready to invest actively in objects with unique characteristics, where it will be more comfortable to live, and it will be easier to sell such an apartment. Customers agree to pay more, if only there was a successful area, a good view from the window and a developed infrastructure next to the house. "We do not forecast a decline in housing prices in the foreseeable future. On the contrary, taking into account the current situation on the market, we recommend buyers to hurry with the exit on the deal. In the current conditions, it is better to pay and purchase a sought after object that will always be liquidated than with a discount to buy an apartment with high risks of unfinished construction, "- said the head of the sales department of the company" Mosrealstroy Yuri Barsukov.