An analysis by Metrohouse and Credipass covering Poland’s 12 largest cities shows that, with a 20% down payment, buying an apartment with a mortgage can be significantly more financially attractive than renting. In many cities, the monthly mortgage instalment for a 40-square-metre, two-room flat is lower than the rent by several hundred zlotys.
Metrohouse, a real estate agency network, and Credipass financial experts analysed rental prices for the most popular apartment size segment in Poland’s largest cities.
A standard two-room, 40-square-metre apartment is most expensive to rent in Warsaw, where the average monthly rent stands at PLN 3,360. Warsaw is also the only city in the comparison where the average rent for such a property exceeds PLN 3,000 per month.
Rental costs are also high in Gdańsk and Kraków, where the average rent is PLN 2,760 in both cities, as well as in Wrocław, where a comparable apartment costs only PLN 100 less per month.
The lowest rental prices can be found in Katowice and Białystok, where a two-room apartment can often be rented for less than PLN 2,000 a month. In Olsztyn and Bydgoszcz, rents for similar properties remain below PLN 2,200.
“However, it should be remembered that these are asking prices and may differ slightly from the final rents paid by tenants who sign a lease agreement. The differences are usually not significant and typically amount to only a few percent. The figures do not include service charges paid to the housing association or cooperative, nor utility bills. In practice, tenants need to prepare for several hundred zlotys in additional monthly costs, and increasingly often more than PLN 1,000,” says Marcin Jańczuk, an expert at Metrohouse.
A flat for the duration of university: buy or rent?
The market is soon expected to see increased activity from a particularly important group of customers: parents whose children are starting university in another city. For many families, this raises a practical question: instead of renting a flat for a student, would it make more sense to buy one?
Credipass analysts examined how this calculation looks across individual cities.
Even with a 10% down payment, buying a property financed with a mortgage proves more cost-effective than renting in some cities. This is the case in Łódź, where the difference between the average mortgage payment and monthly rent reaches PLN 551.
Buying is also cheaper than renting in Szczecin and Bydgoszcz, where the monthly differences amount to PLN 405 and PLN 377 respectively.
With a 20% down payment, the advantage of buying becomes considerably clearer in most of the cities analysed. In Łódź, the difference in monthly costs reaches as much as PLN 840.
Savings of more than PLN 300 per month in favour of buying can also be seen in Bydgoszcz, where the difference is PLN 579; Katowice, PLN 425; Lublin, PLN 375; Olsztyn, PLN 435; Poznań, PLN 391; Szczecin, PLN 746; as well as Warsaw and Wrocław, where the difference is PLN 398 in each city.
Kraków is the only city where it is most difficult to clearly determine whether buying a property is more beneficial than renting. The difference between the mortgage instalment and the monthly rent is just PLN 30.
“For parents financing accommodation for a child studying in another city, the difference between renting and buying may be particularly important. If a family has a down payment and sufficient creditworthiness, it is worth comparing not only the monthly rent with the mortgage instalment, but also the longer-term financial outcome. After several years of repayments, the parents retain an asset that can be rented out, sold or left to the child. Money spent on rent, by contrast, does not build wealth,” says Marek Jackiewicz, financial expert at Credipass.
| City | Price per sq. m. | Price of a 40 sq. m. flat | Rent per sq. m. | Monthly rent | Mortgage payment: 10% deposit | Mortgage payment: 20% deposit | Difference vs rent: 10% deposit | Difference vs rent: 20% deposit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Białystok | PLN 9,164 | PLN 366,560 | PLN 48 | PLN 1,920 | PLN 1,988 | PLN 1,655 | -PLN 68 | PLN 265 |
| Bydgoszcz | PLN 8,033 | PLN 321,320 | PLN 53 | PLN 2,120 | PLN 1,743 | PLN 1,541 | PLN 377 | PLN 579 |
| Gdańsk | PLN 13,870 | PLN 554,800 | PLN 69 | PLN 2,760 | PLN 3,009 | PLN 2,506 | -PLN 249 | PLN 254 |
| Katowice | PLN 8,054 | PLN 322,160 | PLN 47 | PLN 1,880 | PLN 1,747 | PLN 1,455 | PLN 133 | PLN 425 |
| Kraków | PLN 15,110 | PLN 604,400 | PLN 69 | PLN 2,760 | PLN 3,278 | PLN 2,730 | -PLN 518 | PLN 30 |
| Lublin | PLN 9,879 | PLN 395,160 | PLN 54 | PLN 2,160 | PLN 2,143 | PLN 1,785 | PLN 17 | PLN 375 |
| Łódź | PLN 7,971 | PLN 318,840 | PLN 57 | PLN 2,280 | PLN 1,729 | PLN 1,440 | PLN 551 | PLN 840 |
| Olsztyn | PLN 8,666 | PLN 346,640 | PLN 50 | PLN 2,000 | PLN 1,880 | PLN 1,565 | PLN 120 | PLN 435 |
| Poznań | PLN 10,677 | PLN 427,080 | PLN 58 | PLN 2,320 | PLN 2,316 | PLN 1,929 | PLN 4 | PLN 391 |
| Szczecin | PLN 9,378 | PLN 375,120 | PLN 61 | PLN 2,440 | PLN 2,035 | PLN 1,694 | PLN 405 | PLN 746 |
| Warsaw | PLN 16,393 | PLN 655,720 | PLN 84 | PLN 3,360 | PLN 3,557 | PLN 2,962 | -PLN 197 | PLN 398 |
| Wrocław | PLN 12,632 | PLN 505,280 | PLN 67 | PLN 2,680 | PLN 2,741 | PLN 2,282 | -PLN 61 | PLN 398 |
A monthly difference of several hundred zlotys may not initially seem decisive. However, when taking into account that a student typically rents a flat for around five years, the effect becomes substantial.
In Warsaw and Wrocław, for example, a family would spend almost PLN 24,000 more on rent over five years than on mortgage payments for a purchased apartment. At the same time, the family would own the property, allowing it to generate rental income, be sold or be retained for the child after graduation.
Methodology
The Metrohouse and Credipass analysis covered Poland’s 12 largest cities. It compared average asking rents for two-room apartments with an area of 40 square metres, based on Metrohouse data, with average apartment sale prices per square metre from the National Bank of Poland’s report.
Mortgage instalments were calculated for 10% and 20% down-payment scenarios, using variable interest rates of 6.05% and 5.45% respectively and assuming a standard 30-year mortgage term.
Rental prices do not include administrative charges or utility bills. A negative figure in the comparison columns means that monthly rent is lower than the mortgage instalment.
