The estimated value of residential real estate assets in Poland at the end of 2021 amounted to approx. PLN 5.6 trillion compared to PLN 4.9 trillion in 2020, while commercial real estate – respectively: approx. 355 billion PLN, with PLN 314 billion in 2020, the National Bank of Poland (NBP) reported in the “Report on the situation on the residential and commercial real estate market in Poland in 2021”. The value of residential real estate at the end of the analyzed period amounted to approx. 215% of GDP, and commercial real estate to approx. 14% of GDP (in 2020: 211% and 13%, respectively).
The number of dwellings in the stock per 1000 population increased in the country (it amounted to approx. 400 against 392 in 2020) and the average usable floor space of a dwelling per person (approx. 30 m2 against 29.2 m2 in 2020). people per apartment (2.5 in 2021 as compared to 2.55 in 2020)..
Summing up last year, the NBP reminds, inter alia, that at the beginning of the period under review, a phase of very high activity related to accumulation, postponed during the pandemic, high demand in the sectors of general construction, housing and commercial real estate was observed. In the first half of 2021, the number of transactions in the housing market increased to historically high levels, making up for the slowdown associated with pandemic restrictions in the previous period. However, from the third quarter of 2021, a gradual decline in activity in the housing market was observed.
In Q4, along with the rising interest rates on loans, apartment sales reached an average level, comparable to 2014. The geopolitical situation related to Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine in Q1 2022 increased uncertainty, additionally contributing to a downturn in sector.
In the case of commercial space, the demand was significantly influenced by changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e. the development of remote work and online commerce. As a consequence, we observed a strong increase in the supply of warehouse properties, a moderate supply of office properties and a limited supply of new retail space, which has been observed for several years, reminds the central bank.
“The main reasons for the high demand observed in the real estate sector in 2021 were:
– in general construction – infrastructure projects, supported by EU funding,
– in the commercial sector – low interest rates in the euro area,
– in housing construction – structural factors, i.e. growing income of households, shortage of housing space in large cities and low cost of a bank loan until Q3 2021, and treating a flat as savings deposits,” the NBP said.
Source: NBP and ISNews
