Brief retelling from RIA II
The Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrugs lead the ranking of Russian regions with the most affordable mortgages.
Over the first 8 months of 2026, almost 577 thousand mortgage loans were issued in Russia, which is 40% more than during the same period in 2025.
In August 2026, 20.2% of families can afford a mortgage at the market rate, while last year the share of such families was 16.1%.
The leaders in the availability of mortgages on market conditions in the 2026 ranking are the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (55.7% of families), the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Yugra (53%) and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (48%).
In 9 regions, less than 10% of families can purchase a sixty-meter apartment with a mortgage on market conditions, and Sevastopol, Crimea, Dagestan and the Altai Republic close the ranking.
MOSCOW, September 28 – RIA Novosti. The Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrugs lead the ranking of Russian regions with the most affordable mortgages; Sevastopol and Crimea close the list, according to a RIA Novosti study.
The situation on the mortgage market
Mortgage lending in Russia, after two years of decline, is again gaining momentum. In 8 months of 2026, almost 577 thousand mortgage loans were issued, and this is almost 40% more than during the same period in 2025. In monetary terms, the volume of issuances also increased significantly - to 2.6 trillion rubles for 8 months of this year compared to 1.9 trillion rubles a year earlier.
At the same time, the situation in the field of residential real estate in certain regions is quite different from the Russian average, therefore, to assess regional differences in the affordability of purchasing housing with a mortgage by families, RIA Novosti experts conducted another annual study and compiled a rating that reflects what proportion of families with the official salary of one or two workers can afford to purchase an ordinary two-room apartment by taking out a mortgage loan on market conditions.
As the rating results showed, accessibility parameters are very differentiated regionally. Overall, as of August 2026, 20.2% of families can afford a mortgage at the market rate. For comparison, last year the share of families who had access to a market mortgage was 16.1%, and in 2024 - 13.4%. Thus, wage growth in 2024 and rate reduction in 2025 increased the availability of mortgages.
However, the current share of families is significantly lower than in previous years, when the state support program was in place, and market rates were significantly lower. Thus, from 2018 to 2023, the share of families who had access to a mortgage fluctuated in the range of 25–33%. Thus, despite the growth in wages and some reduction in rates, the availability of mortgages still remains significantly below the levels of 2018–2023, experts note.
Leaders and outsiders of the rating
The leader in the availability of mortgages on market conditions in the 2026 ranking was the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. In this region, 55.7% of families can afford a mortgage for an apartment of 60 square meters. The second and third places were taken by the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Yugra and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, where the share of such families was 53% and 48%, respectively.
Also, a fairly high availability of mortgages was noted in the Murmansk and Magadan regions and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, where the share of families with access to a mortgage was 48%, 45% and 42%, respectively.
In general, we can say that in these regions the availability of purchasing housing with a mortgage at a market rate is at a relatively high level. Experts note that the leadership of the northern regions is natural - high salaries and a large volume of housing stock determine relatively low real estate prices.
In addition to the six regions mentioned above, in another six regions, the share of families for whom purchasing housing with a mortgage under market conditions is available exceeds 30%, and in another 11 regions it is in the range of 25-30%.
However, in 9 regions, less than 10% of families can purchase a sixty-meter apartment using a mortgage loan on market conditions. In two of them the share of such families does not exceed 5%. Sevastopol, Crimea, Dagestan and the Altai Republic close the ranking.
RIA Novosti experts also calculated the size of the monthly mortgage payment in each region. The leader in the absolute size of the monthly mortgage payment predictably became Moscow, where housing prices are the highest among the regions. In the capital, the monthly payment for an apartment of 60 square meters is 243 thousand rubles, which is equivalent to two net median salaries in the second quarter of 2026. In second place is St. Petersburg, where the monthly payment reaches 155 thousand rubles. The Republic of Altai closes the top three in terms of the size of the mortgage payment with a result of 132 thousand rubles. In four more regions, the monthly mortgage payment exceeds 100 thousand rubles.
RIA Novosti experts expect that mortgage lending will continue to grow in the medium term, although the growth rate will be constrained by the high cost of housing, tight lending conditions, and slowing wage growth.
How was the rating calculated?
The calculation was carried out by RIA Novosti experts based on data from the Central Bank, Rosstat and SberIndex. The rating's indicator of mortgage affordability is the share of families that can make a monthly mortgage payment and meet everyday expenses. This share was estimated based on the distribution of workers by salary in each region. The loan size is calculated for an apartment with an area of 60 square meters in your region with a down payment of 30%. Family income from work took into account the payment of personal income tax and was adjusted in accordance with the regional subsistence level for each family member. It was assumed that 70% of the funds remaining after subsistence minimums were deducted from the family budget went to paying off the mortgage, 30% to other expenses.
