According to the study “It’s Us. Poles on Real Estate – Q1 2026,” 62% of respondents believe that few people in their social circle can currently afford to buy an apartment or a house. Although this share is lower than a year ago, the perception remains strong that purchasing property is still beyond the reach of many people.
“This is still a very strong social signal: most of us feel that buying an apartment or a house is beyond the reach of people around us. The encouraging part is that over the past year this tension has eased slightly. In the opinion of Poles, housing affordability has improved a bit, although we cannot speak of a breakthrough – rather a slight sense of relief,”
says Anna Zachara-Widła, a consumer behavior researcher at the property portal Nieruchomosci-online.pl.
The latest edition of the survey shows that 62% of respondents believe that few people in their surroundings can currently afford to purchase a home or apartment. This represents a 9-percentage-point decrease compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, when pessimistic views were expressed by as many as 71% of respondents.
“It is worth remembering that the end of the year is often a time when people review the past year and plan their expenses for the next one. At that moment it becomes particularly clear how heavy a financial burden buying property can be. We sit down with a piece of paper, look at our bills and living costs, and confront them with the idea of a mortgage payment or a required down payment. It is therefore not surprising that at such a moment many people feel that only a few can afford a house or apartment today,”
Anna Zachara-Widła comments.
For this reason, comparing sentiment year-on-year is particularly important. In this case, the share of people believing that few in their surroundings can afford their own home fell by 7 percentage points in Q1 2026, from 69% in Q1 2025. While still a high figure, it suggests that the sense of housing inaccessibility has slightly weakened.
Mortgage Loans Slightly Easier to Obtain – But Still Difficult
A similar trend can be seen in opinions regarding financing. Poles are less likely than a year ago to claim that obtaining a mortgage is extremely difficult.
According to an analysis conducted by Nieruchomosci-online.pl in cooperation with the research agency Inquiry, based on a survey of 1,019 adult Poles, 42% of respondents in Q1 2026 stated that it is very difficult to obtain a mortgage loan.
In Q1 2025—before last year’s series of interest rate cuts—50% of respondents shared this view.
The findings from Nieruchomosci-online.pl can also be interpreted as confirmation of data from the mortgage market. According to AMRON-SARFiN reports, 232,000 housing loans were granted in Poland in 2025, compared with 202,000 loans in 2024.
The increase in mortgage lending in 2025 was partly driven by refinancing, but experts note that even after excluding refinancing transactions, the number of mortgages granted was still higher than a year earlier.
Despite improved access to financing, however, buyer sentiment remains cautious. Some potential buyers are postponing taking on a mortgage not only because loans remain relatively expensive even with lower interest rates, but also because of concerns about job stability and household finances, as well as fresh memories of how dramatically mortgage installments changed in recent years.
Buying a Home: Caution Still Outweighs Enthusiasm
Although the perception that real estate and mortgages have become slightly more accessible over the past year is increasing, purchasing a home or apartment remains challenging.
The results of the study “It’s Us. Poles on Real Estate” show how the first months of the year are perceived in terms of whether it is a good time to buy property.
According to the survey, 26% of respondents believe that Q1 2026 is a good time to buy real estate. A year earlier, in Q1 2025, this opinion was shared by 23% of respondents.
Poles remain more pessimistic than optimistic overall, however, as 36% of respondents believe that Q1 2026 is a bad time to make such a purchase.
“It is worth remembering that the answer to the question ‘Is this a good time to buy an apartment?’ does not depend solely on prices or creditworthiness. It is also influenced by what is currently happening around us: the economic situation, geopolitics, social sentiment, and the sense of financial security linked to income and the cost of living. There may be many such factors that hold us back from making a purchasing decision. A lot is happening at the beginning of the year, which is why some people approach their buying plans very cautiously,”
explains Anna Zachara-Widła, Customer Voice Expert at Nieruchomosci-online.pl.
Methodology:
The survey “It’s Us. Poles on Real Estate – Q1 2026” was conducted in February 2026 by the research agency Inquiry on behalf of Nieruchomosci-online.pl among a representative sample of 1,019 adult Poles.
Source:
https://ceo.com.pl/kredyt-troche-latwiejszy-mieszkanie-nadal-trudne-do-kupienia-37754
