[custom_adv] Nine-bedroom mansions, swimming pools and climate-controlled rooms to keep furs in good condition can now be snapped up for a (relatively) bargain price in Russia as house prices plummet amid political uncertainty. [custom_adv] Some of the most stunning property bargains in the world are now available close to Vladimir Putin's own country estate with up to £44m wiped off prices. [custom_adv] The slashing of house values shows how Russia's elite are reeling from low oil prices and punishing Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis. [custom_adv] Whether you're seeking an ostentatious palace in Moscow, a top ballerina's penthouse in St Petersburg, or the ultimate holiday home in remote Siberia, there are deals galore... but you'd still need a cool £50m to get your foot on the mega-mansion ladder. [custom_adv] In Rublyovka, known as Russia's Beverly Hills, close to Putin's own heavily-guarded Novo-Ogaryovo official residence with six-metre high fences, average new property prices fell 36 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2014 - when a downward spiral was already underway. [custom_adv] 'Often the true scale of the fall in prices is not clear in advertised prices, and only becomes evident in the secrecy of the deal struck between the tycoon who is desperate to sell and the bargain-seeking buyer,' one estate agent dealing in upmarket Moscow homes explained. [custom_adv] Luxurious: This large home now on the market is at Sady Meyendorf, Russia, has a swimming pool, gym, solarium, sauna, and a wine cellar [custom_adv] Alexei Treschev, director of city and regional property for Knight Frank in Moscow, said discounts of '40 to 50 per cent' can be offered based on 'the personal financial situation of the buyer'. [custom_adv] As Leonid Krongauz, of Kalinka Realty, said recently: 'The political and economic instability prevents everyone from buying real estate.' For sellers in this area, where some mansions are connected to a closed-network Kremlin landline phone system, the pressure to cash-in is acute and the losses vast.
