Sales of new flats on Poland’s seven largest markets totalled 4.6 thousand units in February, up 9% m/m and 17% y/y. At that time, developers introduced 4.7 thousand units to their offer – 12% less than a month earlier and 139% more compared to last year, according to Otodom Analytics data. As a result, at the end of February there were 41,200 units on offer from developers, 3% more than a month ago and 8% less than a year earlier.
“The increase in February by more than a thousand units of the developers’ offer compared to January is surprising. Indeed, at first glance, there is no justification for the surplus in the number of units launched and sold by developers in February. In the seven largest markets, developers launched for sale only a few dozen flats more than they sold. Where, then, did the increase in the number of flats they offered come from? The source of such anomalies is most often flats which ‘come back on offer’, i.e. those which were reserved or sold in an earlier period. This was also the case in February, when almost 800 units reserved by customers in previous months re-stocked the developers’ offer. There are many indications that these were flats reserved in the hope of obtaining financing under the BK 2% Programme. In the February data – as in the January survey data – we can see the effects of the government’s First Housing programme, which was formally extinguished in late 2023 and early 2024,” commented Otodom Analytics research director Katarzyna Kuniewicz.
Otodom estimates that developers operating in Poland’s seven largest markets can consider February to have been quite a successful month. The 4,600 units sold by them is a result close to the average for the last six months, but 9% better than the month before and 17% higher compared to last year. Thus, there are many indications that the level of developer housing sales is stabilising at around 4.4 thousand per month.
Larger changes, however, were seen on the supply side. This is because after a period of increased demand in the second half of last year, developers are still making up for the shortfall in their offer. According to Otodom Analytics data, in February, 4.7 thousand new units were introduced for sale on the seven largest markets, 12% less than in January. However, this is still a good result – the fourth highest in the last 12 months and 139% higher than a year earlier, the material commented.
“The improving situation has entailed further price increases. In February, Kraków joined the group of cities where one has to pay on average more than PLN 15,000 per square metre. Thus, next to Warsaw (PLN 16,500/m2 on average) and Gdańsk (PLN 15,100/m2), it became one of the most expensive locations in Poland. And where is the cheapest? Still in Łódź, although even here, after breaking the border of 10,000 PLN/sqm in January, prices rose by around 300 PLN/sqm in February,” the company reported.
The data includes the markets in Warsaw, Krakow, Wrocław, the Tri-City, Poznań, Łódź and Katowice.
Source: Otodom and ISBnews
