Property developers in Poland’s emerging housing markets are selling apartments faster than they are adding new units to the market. During the first half of 2026, sales increased by more than one-third year on year, while the number of homes available for purchase declined by 5%.
The figures indicate that the stock of available new apartments in regional cities is gradually shrinking. This raises the question of whether stronger demand and limited new supply could lead to price increases during the second half of the year.
According to Otodom data, the development market in six emerging cities—Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Kielce, Lublin, Rzeszów and Szczecin—offered more than 13,300 apartments in June.
Although buyers still had a relatively broad selection, the total number of new homes available for sale was 5% lower than a year earlier.
Lublin has the largest housing supply
Lublin remained the largest of the analysed markets, with approximately 3,500 apartments available from developers. Szczecin ranked second, with around 2,700 units.
The smallest pools of available housing were recorded in Kielce and Białystok. Developers in these cities offered approximately 1,100 and 1,700 apartments respectively.
During the entire first half of 2026, developers introduced a total of 4,200 new apartments across the six markets.
This was almost 20% more than during the previous six-month period, but 14% fewer than in the corresponding period of 2025.
Developers were most active in Rzeszów and Lublin, where around 1,000 new apartments were added to the market in each city.
In Kielce, the new supply increased by only around 300 units. Approximately 600 new apartments were introduced in each of the remaining cities.
Housing demand increases sharply
Otodom’s analysis shows that nearly 4,500 new-build apartments were sold across the six markets between January and the end of June.
The result was 3% higher than in the previous six-month period and 37% higher than during the first half of 2025.
Lublin had a significant impact on the overall result, with around 1,200 transactions completed during the period. Bydgoszcz followed with approximately 950 apartments sold.
Strong sales were also recorded in Szczecin and Białystok, where buyers purchased around 750 and 620 apartments respectively.
Demand was lower, but remained stable, in Rzeszów, where more than 500 units were sold. Kielce recorded approximately 400 transactions.
The data show that apartment sales exceeded the number of new units introduced to the market. As a result, the volume of available housing continued to decline.
Prices stabilise during the summer
Szczecin remained the most expensive of the analysed emerging markets in June, with an average asking price of PLN 13,200 per square metre.
Rzeszów was the least expensive city, with an average price of PLN 10,400 per square metre. In the remaining four markets, average prices ranged from PLN 11,300 to PLN 12,000 per square metre.
Interestingly, both the most expensive and the cheapest markets recorded slight annual price declines.
Average prices in Szczecin decreased by less than 1% year on year, while Rzeszów recorded a decline of 2%.
Prices increased in the other cities. Białystok reported the strongest annual growth, at 8%, while prices in Lublin and Kielce rose by 6%.
Monthly changes in June were limited, however, suggesting that the market entered a period of relative price stability.
Rzeszów was the only city to record a noticeable monthly increase, with prices rising by 1%. Average rates remained almost unchanged in Białystok and Kielce.
Lublin, Szczecin and Bydgoszcz ended the month with only marginal price movements of less than 1%.
Limited supply could increase price pressure
The overall picture of Poland’s emerging housing markets during the first half of the year remains mixed.
On the one hand, developers appear to be acting cautiously and adjusting the pace of new project launches to actual demand rather than flooding the market with additional supply.
On the other hand, this cautious approach is reducing the stock of apartments available for purchase. Historically, a shrinking supply of homes can translate into upward pressure on prices during subsequent months.
“Developers are behaving rationally. They are not overwhelming the market with new supply, but are adjusting the pace of project launches to the level of demand,” said Paweł Jarząbek, Market Analysis and Research Manager at Otodom.
“At the same time, this caution is leading to a decline in the stock of available apartments, which usually becomes reflected in prices in the following months,” he added.
According to Jarząbek, the cities with the smallest housing supply, particularly Kielce and Białystok, should be monitored most closely. Any imbalance between demand and supply may become visible there sooner than in markets with a larger number of available properties.
Whether the decline in supply will result in broader price increases will become clearer during the second half of 2026.
Source: Otodom / CEO.com.pl
