The average price per square metre of flats on offer from developers increased quarter-on-quarter in all seven of Poland’s largest metropolitan areas at the end of Q4 2023. The highest increase was recorded in the Tri-City, by 10% q-o-q, and the lowest in Wrocław, by 1%, according to preliminary data from BIG DATA RynekPierwotny.pl. On a year-on-year basis, flat prices for the whole of 2023 increased in the range of 8% (Łódź) to 27% (Tricity).
It is worth noting that since July, i.e. since the appearance of the ‘2% Safe Loan’ in the banks’ offer, there has been a clear price acceleration in almost all metropolises. The oasis of stability among the largest metropolises was Łódź. And this is true both in terms of the size of the offer and the average price of new flats, which increased the least this year, by ‘only’ 8%. The remaining metropolises saw double-digit increases in the average price per square metre. In the Tri-City, it increased the most, by as much as 27% in 2023. In Krakow, the increase was 24%, and in Warsaw, the average price per square metre of flats offered by developers increased by 23%, it was reported.
“In a completely different mood from a year ago are the developers and the customers buying flats from them. Among them, there are probably many who very much regret that they delayed the purchase of a unit in anticipation of the drop in prices that was expected after 2022,” said Marek Wielgo, RynekPierwotny.pl.
The most expensive is in Warsaw. According to preliminary data from BIG DATA RynekPierwotny.pl, at the end of December 2023, the average price per square metre of flats offered by Warsaw real estate developers exceeded PLN 16,700. Thus, for a 50-square-metre new flat in Poland’s capital city, one had to pay on average almost PLN 837,000, i.e. by approximately 155,000 more than a year ago, when the average price for a flat of a similar size was just under PLN 682,000. With this amount of money, one could buy not a 50-square metre flat, but a 41-square metre flat, i.e. 9 m2 smaller. In Kraków, on the other hand, buying a 50-square-metre flat now means spending on average around 151,000 PLN more than at the end of last year, and in the Tricity – around 160,000 PLN. Those looking for a 50-square-metre flat who are not able to put up such an amount have to settle for a smaller area by as much as 10 and 11 sq.m. respectively, it further reported.
RynekPierwotny.pl portal point out that in order for the average price per square metre of flats on the primary market to stop growing, developers would have to radically increase the supply of flats in the popular segment, i.e. those built with credit customers in mind. We have seen such a situation in Łódź, where in December the percentage of flats with a price below PLN 9,000 per m2 increased from 34% to 36%. Unfortunately, there is a risk that, at the beginning of 2024, developers operating in the largest metropolises will limit their investment activity due to a decrease in demand for the flats they build. The suspension of the ‘2% Safe Credit’ programme as a result of the exhaustion of funds for subsidies in this year’s state budget may lead to this. In addition, housing prices have reached a level that fewer and fewer buyers, especially those using credit, are able to accept.
Source: RynekPierwotny.pl and ISBnews
