The skyrocketing price of city real estate is forcing buyers’ attention to Leningrad Oblast — but even there supply is already struggling to meet demand, experts said at a round table at Interfax Northwest on Tuesday.

By offering clients country cottages as a substitute for a regular city apartment, construction companies are hoping to cash in on the anxiety of house-hunters desperate to make a purchase.

As well as switching their attention to out-of town cottages, buyers now have to consider previously unattractive areas, the experts said.

“City residents are increasingly looking for real estate in the suburbs,” said Leonid Teleguzov, chairman of Zagorodnaya Nedvizhimost association.

“Previously 40 kilometers from the city was considered too far away, but at the moment 80 to 100 kilometers has become quite acceptable,” he said.

Apart from the Kurortny district, which has always attracted the well-off, Vsevolozhsk, Karelian Isthmus and Priozersk are gaining popularity as areas of elite construction, Teleguzov indicated.

“Southern areas are developing, though previously this region was considered unattractive. The Vyritsa region benefits from picturesque places and proximity to the ring-road,” he said. “For a long time buyers ignored the Kirovsky district and Shlisselburg. Now they have become dynamic areas of low and mid-price construction,” Teleguzov said.

In the Kirovsky district several hundred agreements are signed a month, while three years ago such agreements were quite unusual.

Country housing is also becoming more expensive, following the city trend. At the moment a one room apartment in Shlisselburg costs $50,000, a two room apartment — $70,000, Teleguzov said.

The average wait to sell a house has recently decreased from six months to three months, he said, and seasonal variations in sales became less distinct.

Another expert agreed that the country market is soon likely to take off. “Usually the market for cottages reacts to variations in the city real estate price within a year. Thus we can expect a rapid increase in the price of country real estate next spring,” Oleg Karzov, director for country real estate at Peterburgskaya Nedvizhimost, commented via e-mail Thursday.

“Leningrad Oblast, surely, is desperately short of new cottages for sale, especially in the South. Demand for cottages started growing two years ago, and now it exceeds the number of cottages put up for sale. They are snapped up like hot cakes,” Karzov said.

Comfort class and business class cottages are the most popular. As for location, Karzov indicated the Karelian Isthmus as the most attractive area. “Kurortny and Vsevolozhsky districts follow it in popularity. The most expensive cottages are located there,” he said.

Karzov predicted that Southern Leningrad Oblast would soon gain popularity. According to his forecast, over the next year five to six new construction projects will start every month — the same rate can be seen at the moment. So by the next spring over 100 cottage settlements will be available, while at the moment they are limited to about 60.

To increase the number of potential buyers the round table proposed using cheaper construction technologies. Alexander Portnov, CEO of Russian Real Estate Fund, suggested the frame and panel type of housing widely used in North European countries.

“Such houses are warmer and cheaper. They cost $650-750 per square meters while one square meter costs over $2,000 in many market segments in the city,” Portnov said.

He predicted that this cheaper technology will command a considerable part of the residential market. Two plants that will produce such construction materials are currently being built in Leningrad Oblast. One such plant could produce materials for 1,000 houses a year. A total of 14 such plants will be launched across Russia, Portnov said.

Ivan Kuzmitsky, CEO of City Stroi Service, said that the basic set of materials costs $300 per square meter, not including the basement and roof. Among the advantages of this technology he indicated savings on energy, flexible architectural solutions and the opportunity to assemble a cottage throughout the year.