November 30, 2025

A Pretty Penny to Park


A Pretty Penny to Park
A surprisingly good investment. The Russian Life files.

A new report by Russian state media outlet Izvestia reveals that prices on parking spaces are outpacing the prices on apartments.

Over the last year, apartment prices have risen 7-9%, while parking spaces have shot up 20%. New buyers of Russian apartments can expect their parking spaces to cost as much as one-sixth of their rent: on average, a million rubles, or $12,903, per year. Some large spots for nicer apartments in luxurious areas can go for as much as R25 million, or more than $322,000, a year.

Izvestia journalists write that several economic factors are at play that have caused a parking shortage. While there are laws and regulations that require a certain number of parking spots to be included when buildings are built, oftentimes not all spots are sold. Many residents choose not to purchase an expensive lot on top of an expensive apartment, so open spots are a pure loss to developers. To recoup, they raise prices on spots that are likely to be purchased, creating a vicious cycle.

Some context is helpful. In car-friendly America, the number of parking spaces per household can vary widely. Des Moines, Iowa, has a whopping 20 parking spaces per household. In urban public transit haven New York, there are a mere 0.6 parking spaces her household. On average, there about 1.1 parking spaces are added with each new residential construction in the U.S.

In Russia, even smaller cities sit at 0.39 spaces per household, while larger cities have only 0.33. New apartment blocks often have only between 0.2 or 0.3 spaces per apartment. Hence why some Russian banks even offer loans to help customers pay for parking spots.

All of this against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and a grinding war economy.

You Might Also Like

An Ode to the Hovercraft
  • February 14, 2021

An Ode to the Hovercraft

Russia is a land of many mysteries. The greatest of all, of course, is this: What's the deal with Russians and their hovercraft?
Good Parking Spots Are Worth It
  • February 21, 2022

Good Parking Spots Are Worth It

Russian bank VTB is set to begin offering customers loans to cover parking spaces and closets, which seem like sound financial decisions.
A Real Hot Rod
  • August 11, 2021

A Real Hot Rod

Who needs headlights when you have flamethrowers instead? This Russian mechanic decided to find out. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

A Taste of Russia
November 01, 2012

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

Bears in the Caviar
May 01, 2015

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.

The Moscow Eccentric
December 01, 2016

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

About Us

Russian Life is the 31-year-old publication of an award-winning publishing house that also creates books, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955