Are people coming from Ukraine interested in buying apartments in Poland? Do they visit developers’ sales offices? What places are they interested in? In what locations? Are there also Russians and Belarusians among the buyers? The survey was developed by the real estate website dompress.pl
Tomasz Kaleta, director of the Sales Department of Develia S.A.: In recent years, foreigners constituted a group of about 2-4 percent. of all buyers, of which as many as half of Ukrainian citizens. These numbers should increase in the near future. The fact is that as a result of the Russian aggression, the number of transactions decreased, and Ukrainian buyers withdrew from contracts because they wanted to secure the funds. In the long run, however, this will change. Just like after the annexation of Crimea, some people will decide to stay first, supplying the rental market, and then buying their own apartment. We see interest in various types of premises in all segments. In the case of customers from Russia and Belarus, we have not noticed any changes in the trend so far.
Edyta Kołodziej, Sales and Marketing Director at Nickel Development: Due to the situation beyond the eastern border, we expected greater interest in apartments from people emigrating to Poland. As we know, Ukrainians choose larger cities as their places of stay. For this reason, Poznań is in the sphere of interests of our eastern neighbors. We have noticed an increased interest in our municipal investments, as opposed to the suburban Dąbrówka. We received e-mail inquiries, but there were also individual visits to the showroom. People looking for apartments have similar expectations as clients from Poland. They are interested in their location, communication with the city center, additional spaces, such as a balcony or garden, and a parking space. Depending on their needs, they usually look for two or three-room apartments. Some of the visitors are financially sound people who have cash to buy a flat. We also met with young people who do not have savings and are asking about the possibility of financing the purchase of a flat by the developer. We also noted individual inquiries about the offer of flats from Russians and Belarusians.
Joanna Janowicz, managing director at Constructa Plus: At the moment, we note only single visits of clients from Ukraine, and we have not seen Belarusians and Russians in the office for a very long time. It is still far too early to talk about their significant impact on the market. Nobody knows what the impact will be, because we do not know how long the war will last and what decisions will be made by those who escaped to Poland. No demand-related forecasts can be made about this, but we hope that some of them will stay and enter the primary housing market.
However, we see a clear acceleration in the real estate market for rent. Rental rates are rising rapidly. Up to 30 percent are listed, price increases from mid-March. This attracts large institutional clients to the market who are interested in buying entire buildings with a view to renting them later. It is them who will have an impact on the market, and not individual clients who came to Poland from across the eastern border.
Zuzanna Dobra, Commercial Director at Eco Classic: Customers from Ukraine have been present on our market for several years. At present, we have not noticed any increased interest from our neighbors. I think it is too early for increased interest from these clients. We must remember that the Ukrainians who came to us in the last weeks were fleeing. This is not the normal “mode” of changing residence. Even if these are people who will be able to afford to buy housing the kites are still in shock. Perhaps they are bringing their family to Poland, or maybe they do not want to stay in Poland and hope to return to the country. Recent studies show that 80 percent. Ukrainians who found shelter with us would like to return.
Michał Witkowski, sales director of Lokum Deweloper: Our activity focuses on two large markets – Wrocław and Kraków. Both cities belonged to the main centers of Ukrainians long before the aggression started by the Russian Federation. Therefore, for several years now, the citizens of this country have been among the customers who choose our apartments as their place of life in Poland. The criteria they follow when analyzing the investment locations are the same as in the case of those adopted by Poles. Depending on the family and financial situation, or, for example, the type of work performed, both housing estates located in the center and those located on the outskirts are of interest. Due to the war, some Ukrainian citizens residing in Poland make the final decision to purchase real estate. We expect the demand from our neighbors to gradually increase. The resolution of the situation in their country and the related consequences as well as the process of family reunification, which are now often separated, will contribute to this. Currently, the influx of Ukrainian citizens has a strong impact on the rental market, which may cause an increase in demand among individual investors, as well as contribute to faster development of the PRS sector in Poland. We do not record inquiries from Russians and Belarusians.
Bartłomiej Mandryga, head of the sales and marketing department of PCG S.A.: The interest of Ukrainian citizens in housing depends on the location. We are present with investments in 6 cities of western Poland, so we can look at the market more broadly and observe trends. In cities that are located in the border zone, such as Wałbrzych and Szczecin, the purchase of an owner-occupied flat by people with other citizenship requires the consent of the ministry, therefore the procedure is extended by several months and only a few decide on it at the moment. The interest of Ukrainian citizens in these cities does not exceed 10 percent. A similar level of the number of applications from these people is recorded in Zielona Góra. In Wrocław, we have quite frequent inquiries, most people are looking for ready-made apartments with a delivery date this year. We do not have inquiries from the Russians and Belarusians, and in the past there were also not many of them.
Andrzej Gutowski, vice president, sales director of Ronson Development: At the moment, there is a large group of Ukrainian citizens on the Polish market who rent and buy apartments. According to official data, in 2020 Ukrainian citizens bought 3,000 apartments in Poland, and before the Russian aggression, around 300,000-400,000. flats were rented by them. Ukrainian clients buy flats from the popular segment. Some of them have been working in Poland long enough that they can apply for a loan from Polish banks. But there are also clients who buy flats to secure their capital. Among them are people who buy for their own needs and those who invest in real estate in Poland.
Adam Urbański, Sales Director at TDJ Estate: As we know, war does not spare anyone. The entire cross-section of society, from the poor to the middle class and wealthy people, migrates from Ukraine. No wonder then that the more affluent people, seeing how the situation in their homeland develops, decide to settle permanently or temporarily in Poland. Some of these people have the capital to buy a flat, but in our opinion, most decided to rent flats in newly commissioned housing estates.
Since the end of February, we have noticed a special interest of foreigners in our Zielona Dolina investment in Zabrze. Potential buyers pay attention not only to the standard of the estate and its surroundings, but also to when it will be put into use, and this is a project that offers the shortest waiting time for a flat. We also have a few inquiries about other investments and the first reservations have already arrived. The areas that are most often asked about are three-room apartments with an area of about 60 sq m.
Cezary Grabowski, sales and marketing director of Bouygues Immobilier Polska: Such a large influx of Ukrainian citizens will certainly change our housing market, but it will happen gradually and over a longer period of time. These changes are already visible on the rental market. In this segment, the demand grew considerably overnight.
Sebastian Barandziak, president of the management board of Dekpol Deweloper: Even before the conflict in Ukraine, many Ukrainian citizens came to Gdańsk to work and decided to settle here permanently, taking steps to purchase real estate. We have been observing interest in flats for a long time, both from Ukrainians, Belarusians and other visitors. However, since the outbreak of the armed conflict in Ukraine, we have not noticed a growing interest in the purchase of real estate by the population of those regions.
Marcin Michalec, CEO Okam: A significant part of Ukrainian citizens fleeing the war go to large Polish cities, among others because of the potential of the labor market or having families and friends there. From the beginning of the conflict, a significant increase in demand on the rental market has been noticeable. Regardless of how the situation in Ukraine develops, the citizens of this country who will stay in Poland will be interested in long-term rental, but some of them will also buy apartments in the long term. Citizens of other Eastern European countries, including Belarusians, also come to Poland. When it comes to our projects, we are beginning to notice an increase in interest in premises among these nationalities. However, bearing in mind that our investments are carried out in large cities such as Warsaw, Łódź or Katowice, where the percentage of foreigners will be the highest, and the fact that we are just starting with some investments, we will certainly see an even greater demand soon.
