The proposed amendment to the developer’s act foresees the creation of the DOM Portal, aimed at increasing transparency in the property market, specifically in terms of first and second-hand housing transaction prices. How do developers evaluate this idea? To what extent can the portal truly help buyers? A survey was prepared by the real estate service dompress.pl.
Tomasz Kaleta, Managing Director for Sales and Marketing at Develia
Until we know the specifics regarding the DOM portal, including its structure and primarily the quality of data and their presentation, it’s hard to make a clear statement. As planned, the portal should present appropriately aggregated statistical data on transaction prices of residential properties, however, it should not allow for the identification of specific transactions. Quarterly data for individual cities is already published, among others, by the National Bank of Poland (NBP).
Easier access to data will surely be helpful not only for buyers but also for developers. However, I don’t think that just the availability of this data will lower apartment prices. Property prices are variable and dependent on the market, and the purchase process can last from a few weeks to several months, from the moment of booking the apartment when the price is “frozen” until signing the developer’s agreement. As a result, the data available on the portal may not be entirely current.
Moreover, the price of a specific apartment within the same investment depends on several factors, such as interior layout, surface area, floor, orientation relative to the cardinal directions, or the size of a balcony or terrace. Consequently, the price per square meter of an apartment may differ even by PLN 6000 within the same investment. Differences in finishing standard and sales policy between adjacent projects should also be taken into account.
Mateusz Bromboszcz, Vice President of Atal
We are one of the few developers who openly inform about the prices of apartments on the websites of our investments. This simplifies the purchasing process, allows clients to pick the location best suited to their abilities, and plan financing. A database making it easier to compare prices in a specific location could be handy, but insufficient without analyzing other characteristics of a given property. Individual investments differ in standard, scale, and many individual parameters, e.g., energy efficiency.
I believe that price transparency is a good market standard, however, it’s hard to expect that the prices of properties will suddenly drop after the introduction of the planned instrument. Only the sellers, especially those operating on the secondary market, will adjust their initial expectations.
The effects, as well as obligations towards developers, related to the implementation of the tool, will be easier to evaluate on a more advanced legislative stage, when specific solutions and requirements will be known.
Agata Zambrzycka, Director for Sales and Marketing at Aurec Home
The project for the amendment of the developer’s act assumes that the DOM portal will enable comparing housing offers with actual transaction prices, supporting conscious purchasing decisions. It will also be helpful for companies, including us developers, in planning investments and for public institutions in analyzing and adjusting housing support tools. The portal is to generate statistics regarding the housing market, such as the number of transactions, property prices, and the demographic profile of purchasers.
Regardless of whether the proposed changes will actually improve the housing situation in Poland, they will certainly introduce additional, broad rights for public administration bodies, as well as for the Insurance Guarantee Fund in obtaining information on transactions conducted on the real estate market.
Zuzanna Należyta, Sales director at Eco Classic
The DOM portal is a good solution and we support its creation as long as it doesn’t turn out, at the end of the day, that reporting is so labor-intensive for developers that they have to create new jobs.
Andrzej Gutowski, Sales director at Ronson Development
We have been operating in the Polish market for over 24 years. We support all initiatives that increase transparency in the industry. We count on transparency, believing that access to reliable information strengthens customer trust and raises standards in the entire sector.
We have a positive view on the idea of creating the DOM Portal, which will publish transaction prices on the primary and secondary markets. This portal can help buyers make more informed decisions, providing them with better insight into current market conditions.
Joanna Chojecka, Director for Sales and Marketing for Warsaw and Wroclaw in Robryg Group
Increasing the availability of housing for Poles is very important, and any solution that increases transparency in the housing real estate market is significant. Naturally, the implementation of this idea will be key, but I am convinced that developers will be eager to engage in cooperation with the government on this matter.
Marcin Michalec, CEO of Okam Capital
At this stage, we still know too little about the final form of the DOM Portal project. In its outline form, it seems to be an interesting initiative, which may lead to further improvements in the transparency of the housing market from the buyer’s perspective. It would be a tool supporting conscious purchasing decisions, based on prices of premises on the primary and secondary markets gathered in one place and giving the possibility of comparing them. At the same time, for developers and those selling apartments, it would entail the obligation to report sales data to the portal.
Anita Makowska, Senior Business Analyst at Archicom
The project for amending the developer’s act, aiming to create the DOM Portal, is a step towards greater transparency in the real estate market, which could bring benefits for both buyers and developers. Access to transaction prices on the primary and secondary market will certainly help make more informed purchasing decisions. However, the proposed method of presenting prices based on a minimum of six transactions raises doubts, especially in smaller towns, where their number may be limited, which could make it difficult to obtain representative data.
In addition, the lack of considering property standards, especially on the secondary market, could lead to an incomplete picture of the value of presented offers. The long period between signing the agreement on the primary market and the collection of premises may also be problematic, which could mean that the transaction price is not always a reflection of the current market realities.
The portal could be a useful tool, especially for more experienced market participants. However, without proper education of users, who may not know the subtle differences between the offer price, transaction price, and market price, we may expose ourselves to incorrect interpretation of information by potential buyers.
Damian Tomasik, CEO Alter Investment
The proposed amendment to the developer’s act, which involves establishing the DOM portal, may bring significant changes to the real estate market, both at the transaction level and in terms of the transparency of the entire buying process.
But from the perspective of a ground developer the portal does indeed have the potential to increase access to information about real transaction prices in the primary and secondary markets. Providing access to such data will positively impact market transparency, which could help buyers make more informed decisions. Price transparency is also a factor that could reduce uncertainty among buyers, especially when comparing offers and negotiating.
In terms of developer’s obligations, the DOM Portal will likely necessitate sharing more data regarding properties being sold. This will likely require adjustments to reporting processes and cooperation with the administration to ensure compliance with new regulations. For us as a ground developer, who deals with investment projects from scratch, new obligations may require additional work in the area of documentation and market tracking which will affect the costs of the activities being carried out and therefore and the prices of apartments. However, in the long run, they could contribute to stabilising the real estate sector.
Despite potential administrative burdens, I believe the implementation of the DOM Portal could prove beneficial for both developers and buyers, as transparency and data availability are key to building trust in the real estate market. In addition, this project could also contribute to increased market competition, ultimately leading to improvements in the quality of offered products and services.
Source: https://managerplus.pl/portal-dom-z-cenami-mieszkan-w-projekcie-ustawy-deweloperskiej-jakie-zmiany-czekaja-rynek-27985
