July saw a decline in the sale of new apartments in most major cities. And since the cheapest ones were being removed from the market first, where developers failed to supply an adequate pool of apartments in the popular segment, the average price per square meter skyrocketed. This phenomenon took place in Warsaw and Wrocław. A pleasant surprise is the situation in Krakow, where the supply of apartments increased and their average price per square meter did not budge for the second month in a row – according to preliminary data from BIG DATA RynekPierwotny.pl.
“Potential apartment buyers have clearly adopted a waiting position. Those who have cash or sufficient creditworthiness are waiting for sellers to start reducing prices. On the other hand, those who currently cannot afford a loan due to high interest rates are waiting for better credit conditions. In this group, there are definitely many who are counting on the new government housing loan support program “Housing loan #naStart” – says Marek Wielgo, an expert at RynekPierwotny.pl.
How did developers react to the decline in demand? In most of the major cities, they simply introduced fewer apartments to the market. The exceptions seem to be Krakow and Wrocław. Preliminary data from BIG DATA RynekPierwotny.pl show that developers in the capital of Lesser Poland introduced a large pool of apartments in the popular segment for sale. This is evidenced by their average price per square meter. Also in Wrocław, developers increased the supply of new apartments in July, but they mainly targeted affluent clients. As a result, in Krakow the price of apartments per square meter stabilized, while in Wrocław it increased by as much as 2%. It is worth noting that such a high increase is also due to the fact that in July a large number of relatively cheap apartments disappeared from the offer in Wrocław.
How was it in other metropolises? In Warsaw, the Tri-City and Łódź, the average price per square meter increased by 1% in July. In the capital, as in Wrocław, the reason was probably mainly the influx of expensive apartments on the market. While in the other two metropolises, the sale of the cheapest apartments had a greater impact on the average. For example, in Łódź, the share of apartments priced below PLN 10,000 per square meter shrank within just one month from 32% to 29%. Instead, the percentage of apartments in the price range of 12-15 thousand PLN per meter increased – from 28% to 30%.
Also in the Tri-City the offer of the cheapest apartments decreased. However, this does not mean that in each of the largest cities, postponing the purchase decision is associated with an ever larger expenditure. For example, in Wrocław, where the average price per square meter increased the most in July, neither the percentage of apartments up to 10 thousand PLN, nor in the range of 10-12 thousand PLN per meter has decreased. However, the supply of apartments with a price per square meter between 12 thousand and 15 thousand PLN decreased. More choice of apartments was offered to those who were willing to pay more.
“There is better news for potential buyers of new apartments in Poznań and cities of the Upper Silesia-Dąbrowa Basin Metropolis. Developers there have started to introduce more apartments in the popular segment to the market, which for example, in the capital of Wielkopolska, stopped the rise in the average price per square meter for the third month in a row. What’s more, in both these metropolises, the percentage of apartments priced below PLN 10,000 per meter has increased”, comments an expert from RynekPierwotny.pl.
In the Upper Silesian-Dąbrowa Metropolis, the average price per square meter rose by 2% this year, the least among the largest metropolises. The race for the title of this year’s leader in price increases is still led by Łódź, but ex aequo with Wrocław. Since the beginning of the year, the average price per square meter has increased in these cities by as much as 9%. Poznań and Warsaw take the next place with an increase in the average by 6%. On the other hand, in Krakow and the Tri-City, prices jumped in seven months by 4%.
It is worth noting that developers rarely decide to increase or decrease listed prices. However, intensifying competition has forced some development companies to “hidden” price reductions, for example in the form of several percent discounts or freebies like a storage room or a parking place in the garage.
Source: https://ceo.com.pl/spadek-sprzedazy-nowych-mieszkan-w-lipcu-warszawa-i-wroclaw-z-wzrostem-cen-krakow-stabilny-52266
