In August, the number of homes listed for sale on Poland’s secondary market fell both nationwide and across all major metropolitan areas. Despite the shrinking supply, average asking prices no longer rose as broadly as they had a month earlier. In several cities prices were stable or even declined, suggesting growing competition from the primary market, according to an analysis by GetHome.pl.
Data from property-search engine Adradar show that around 134,500 second-hand homes were available across Poland at the end of August, down from 137,000 a month earlier. During the month, 30,500 homes were newly listed, 6% fewer than in July, while 33,000 properties disappeared from the market because they were sold or withdrawn.
‘August is traditionally a month when housing-market activity slows, both among sellers and buyers. What is notable, however, is that slightly more homes disappeared from the market than a year earlier. This suggests a seasonal slowdown rather than a clear weakening in demand,’ says Marek Wielgo, housing-market expert at GetHome.pl.
Supply fell in every major metropolitan market
Warsaw’s secondary-market offer declined from 14,300 to 13,900 homes, Kraków from 8,000 to 7,600, Wrocław from 7,800 to 7,600, the Tricity from 8,200 to 7,700, Łódź from 4,600 to 4,500, Poznań from 3,800 to 3,600 and Katowice from 2,200 to 2,100.
The year-on-year decline was even clearer. Supply was down 22% in Wrocław, 20% in Warsaw, 15% in Kraków and Łódź, 13% in Katowice and 8% in both the Tricity and Poznań.
Lower supply does not automatically mean higher prices
Average asking prices rose in all analysed metropolitan areas in July, but August brought a much more mixed picture. Wrocław recorded the strongest increase, from PLN 13,700 to PLN 14,500 per square metre, up 6%. Prices also rose in Łódź, the Tricity and Warsaw.
At the same time, average asking prices declined in Kraków from PLN 17,100 to PLN 16,900 per square metre, in Poznań from PLN 12,100 to PLN 12,000 and slightly in Katowice.
‘A fall in the number of listings does not mean owners can freely raise prices. In many cities buyers have a very broad choice of new homes from developers, so sellers on the secondary market face strong competition,’ Wielgo says.
He notes that the sharp monthly increases in Wrocław and Łódź may partly reflect changes in the structure of available listings. Cheaper homes may have sold faster, leaving a higher share of more expensive properties in the remaining offer.
Developers offer more homes than the secondary market in major cities
In all seven metropolitan areas analysed, buyers currently have more new homes to choose from than second-hand properties. In Warsaw, developers offered about 17,500 homes in August compared with 13,900 on the secondary market. In Kraków the figures were 11,800 and 7,600, while in Łódź they were roughly 11,000 and 4,500 respectively.
This large primary-market supply is limiting the ability of second-hand sellers to raise asking prices. Developers are also increasingly using discounts and other incentives to compete for buyers.
Second-hand homes still retain a price advantage
Secondary-market homes remain cheaper on average than new-build properties in all major metropolitan areas, although the gap varies widely. In Warsaw, second-hand homes averaged PLN 18,100 per square metre compared with PLN 19,600 on the primary market, a difference of around 8%.
The gap was also around 8% in Wrocław, 2% in the Tricity, 21% in Łódź, 16% in Poznań and 6% in Katowice. Kraków had the smallest difference, at only around 2%.
‘It is no coincidence that average secondary-market prices in Kraków edged down despite shrinking supply. If used homes do not offer buyers a clear price advantage over new ones, sellers have less room to increase prices,’ Wielgo concludes.
