Housing in Russia has always been an acute problem, but it has become a major concern for many, especially the younger generation, ever since a housing market emerged in the country.
"If we could lower inflation to 4-6%, long-term mortgage would become affordable for millions of Russians, even with rather low incomes," Putin said at a meeting with students of a professional school in the Moscow Region.
The recent trend shows that the value of real estate was increasing rapidly ahead of inflation.
Moscow in this respect is ahead of all its closest rivals, living up to its reputation as the world's costliest city.
According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, inflation in Russia stood at 10.9% in 2005 and is projected at about 9% this year, then down to 4.5-6% in 2008.
But in 2005 the average price of a Moscow apartment rose by about 40%, and it has risen by another 40% since the beginning of this year to reach about $3,500 per square meters of floor space.
In a city where average monthly wages have just recently reached 24,000 rubles (roughly $900, or twice as high as in the rest of Russia) this is prohibitively expensive.
And Natalia Kirpichenko, general director of MIEL Brokerage real estate agency, said the Moscow market was heading toward housing costs of $6,000 dollars per square meter.
Putin admitted that housing for young professionals remained the most urgent problem in the country, and that it could be resolved only by the joint efforts of government and employers.
