Central banker says primary, secondary housing price gap worrying

MOSCOW, Nov 1 (PRIME) -- The central bank is concerned with a 42% price gap between the primary and secondary housing markets as of October 1, Yelizaveta Danilova, head of the financial stability department, said on Wednesday.

"The average price on the primary market was 42% higher than on the secondary as of October 1,” Danilova said.

“We see that the gap has widened rather than narrowed with time. Before the start of the beneficial (mortgage) programs it stood at about 10%, it grew in the last few years."

The price increase means that housing affordability did not grow at all as calculated per square meter, in spite of record low mortgage rates, she said.

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