Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Poles have started searching for apartments and houses in Western Europe. In places it is even a tenfold increase in inquiries compared to the first half of February 2022. “The war at our neighbors scared us, but also gave us a strong impulse not to postpone the realization of many years of dreams,” said Karolina Kaim, President of the Management Board of Sunshine by High Level.
Currently, for the client, one thing matters – the distance from the homeland, because for many people close neighborhood is no longer perceived as safe. Apart from that, there are no other rules – a regular city, seaside resort, house or apartment. This increase in interest is shown not only by the analysis of internet trends (Google Trends), but also by the latest data from the snsh.pl portal. The largest foreign real estate portal in Poland shows data which shows that the interest in the “second home” has increased even tenfold.
“For a few weeks now, a huge increase in interest in shopping in the West and South of Europe has been observed. In the case of Spain, this is a tenfold jump,” explains Karolina Kaim, President of the Management Board of Sunshine by High Level.
Apart from Spain, the most popular destinations are Portugal, Italy and France. Data from snsh.pl indicate that we are more likely to choose real estate located in continental Europe than islands, due to the direct car connection with Poland.
Snsh.pl analysts emphasize that Poles are looking not only for ready-made properties, but also for those that need to be waited for several years, because escaping a possible conflict is the most important, but not the only, reason for storming foreign investments.
In addition to the concerns over the conflict across the eastern border, the huge surge in interest in real estate in the West also prompts the desire to secure savings in a stable currency. The war in Ukraine showed the weaknesses of the duration of the Polish currency. Many of us prefer to invest in euro for their future, not to worry about the weak zloty and not to wait with uncertainty for the next conference of the NBP president.
“The current situation has freed many plans to be postponed “until later” and “until then”. Customers who have been planning purchases for years decided that there is no point in waiting, that this is the moment, there will be no better. They especially already have an idea of the place they want to purchase. The “new ones” are usually guided by their budget only,” adds Karolina Kaim, an expert on the real estate market.
The budget offers a lot of possibilities – real estate in the West and the South starts at EUR 100,000, but clients also ask about high-end real estate – 300,000, 500,000. and even a million euros and more. Some see it as an escape from the war, others see it as a solution to the economic crisis, others just like a peaceful old age. They all add up to a growing wave of people locating their capital away from the country.
