Size Matters: Which Russian Cities Are Building the Most Spacious Apartments?

Samara retained its leadership among million-plus cities in terms of average area of ​​apartments and flats in new buildings. There were no changes at the very bottom of the rating either. The most compact lots are still sold in St. Petersburg.

"Samara has retained its leadership among million-plus cities in terms of the average area of ​​apartments and flats in new buildings on open sale: in May 2025, this figure reached 56.4 sq. m, which is 0.28% higher than the level of May 2024," reported experts from bnMAP.pro, having studied the supply of all classes and types of housing on the primary market in 16 million-plus cities in the country and calculated the average area of ​​lots on sale there. The city on the Volga has held the first position in the rating for several months now, demonstrating a stable trend in the spacious housing market.

Second and third places were taken by Krasnoyarsk and Chelyabinsk with the same indicators: the average area of ​​lots in new buildings in these cities in May was 53.2 sq. m.

Interesting fact: Moscow took only fourth place with an average area of ​​51.4 sq. m of living space in new buildings. At the same time, the capital recorded a slight decrease in the indicator compared to last year (-1.52%).

The top 5 also includes Nizhny Novgorod, where the average area of ​​apartments and flats is 51.3 sq.m., and Kazan (51.0 sq.m.). Volgograd is in sixth place in the ranking (49.7 sq.m.), and Perm is in seventh place (49.1 sq.m.).

The most compact lots in the country are still sold in St. Petersburg. The average area of ​​apartments in new buildings in the city on the Neva has decreased by 3.34% since May last year and amounted to 42 sq. m, which is the lowest figure among all the cities studied.

The maximum drop in the average area of ​​apartments in new buildings over 12 months was noted in Omsk (-10.98% to 43.8 sq. m). Most likely, this is due to the fact that since May of last year, sales have started in 18 new buildings with a total of 50 buildings on sale. That is, the volume of new buildings is more than a third. Given the relatively small total supply, such an influx of new housing, consisting mainly of compact apartments, has a significant impact on the final indicators of the average area.

Ufa also stands out among the cities with negative dynamics: over the year, the average area of ​​lots in new buildings here decreased by 3.10% to 44.7 sq. m.

In 12 of the 16 cities studied, the average area of ​​lots in new buildings for sale has decreased over the year. This may be due to the general demand for cheaper housing – and therefore for more compact lots, analysts believe.

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