32 | THE RUSSIAN REPORT Demographics WORDS | Geoff Hadwick
Who is buying?
If Russia is to come back as a major buyer of overseas property once again, it will defi nitely be in a different guise. OPP talks to agents and developers around the world about what sort of Russian buyer they are meeting ... and what is this discerning new group of clients seeking to fi nd?
www.opp.org.uk | JUNE 2010
t is Russia’s emerging professional middle classes that are fuelling business for Alper Apaydin, Managing Director of Advantage Properties International. “Mainly they are ‘middle class’ investor buyers,” he says, “people who are not super-rich, but who have some funds to buy property abroad.” “Many API clients come from the Russian middle class which has been growing steadily,” he adds. “ They have high disposable incomes and they have made their capital as managers, directors or owners of small businesses ... We also meet the academic and political elite, musicians and artists.
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They can easily afford properties in the range of €30k to €£200k.’ According to Apaydin, “the Russians who yesterday were just tourists in Turkey are the investors of today. Russia is a very well-educated society … they know what they want and what they know how to get it,” he says. They still like Turkey as a destination
says Apaydin, and he has noticed a surge in recent years from buyers based in the former Soviet Union … from places like Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Belarus. “Many of them say that it’s cheaper to buy property in Turkey than in Moscow, St’ Petersburg, Almaty or Kiev.’
Turkey also does well because local businesses “hire Russian-speaking staff to serve their clients” observes Apaydin, “especially in roles like private concierge.”
This increasingly sophisticated approach has also been noticed by Antonio Ribes Bas, general manager of Rimontgo in Spain. “Russian buyers are demanding clients who know what they want,” he says. “They are looking for privacy, comfort, space, security and good views and there are two types of Russian clients: the middle-aged investor and the gilded-youth buyer. The younger buyers want discretion, comfort and security rather than
opulence. They love open and large spaces, modern styling and outstanding views of the Mediterranean Sea … but with privacy.”
Ribes Bas reckons that “Russian tastes have become more in line with European style … they are choosier and more discerning.” Fine wines and fi ne art are on their agenda too. This normalising effect has also
been noticed by Armando Macia, marketing director at Grupo Marjal. “Today’s Russian buyer is younger … often a businessman,” he says. “Lifestyle comes into it too. Russia’s favourable economic outlook is helping small businesses and technical
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