Over the past decades, the real estate market has been dominated by an immutable axiom: "a new building is always more liquid than a secondary one." Investors invested in the pits, knowing that by the time the house was completed, the price would rise by 30-40%. The old foundation was seen as a departing entity with worn-out communications. However, the energy crisis and the realities of 2024-2025 have turned this pyramid upside down. We are witnessing a unique market phenomenon: the high-quality "grandmother's version" has become more reliable and desirable than the business class in glass and concrete.
The engineering code of survival
Why is this happening? The answer lies in the engineering simplicity of the old foundation. Houses built in the middle of the 20th century ("Stalinka", early "Khrushchev" brick houses) have the so-called "passive survivability".
- Gasification. The presence of gas removes the critical dependence on the power grid. In a new building without light, you can't even boil water, while in a gasified house, life goes on as usual.
- Hydraulics and heat. In older areas, an open heating system or gravity water supply is often used. This allows you to keep the heat in the cast-iron batteries and the water in the taps (on the lower floors) even when the quarterly pumping pumps are stopped.
- Walls. Brickwork with a thickness of 60-80 cm works as a heat accumulator, which modern monolithic frame structures lack.
A new perspective on rent and investment
From the point of view of the rental business, the situation has changed dramatically. Tenants now vote with their wallets for comfort and safety, rather than lobby design. An apartment with a simple renovation in Stalinka, which keeps warm for a day, rents out faster and more expensive than a stylish studio in a trendy residential complex, where everything is turned off during a blackout: from the elevator and intercom to water and heating.
An investor who has bought an "elite" new building for rent is forced to either spend huge sums on providing autonomy (EcoFlow, Starlink), or lose income due to downtime. We discussed this and real estate price analysis in more detail in the main article of our series, analyzing the concept of the "Autonomy Index".
Capital prospects
Now is the time for an investor to review the strategy. Instead of buying square meters "for growth" in remote residential complexes, it is worth looking at liquid secondary housing in areas with dense infrastructure. Such facilities demonstrate amazing price stability. When the energy situation stabilizes, these apartments will not lose value due to their location, while overpriced new buildings on the outskirts may sink. The "Stalinka" in the center today is conservative, but
