High vacancy levels, limited development activity and a changing demand structure show a market that is still searching for balance after the dynamic growth of the previous decade. In the first quarter of 2026, regional office markets in Poland recorded their weakest first-quarter demand result since 2021. The Savills report “Office Market in Regional Cities, Q1 2026” also shows that tenant activity fell by almost one third year on year.
121,500 sqm – leasing volume in Q1 2026, down 29% y/y
17.4% – average vacancy rate across eight regional cities
47,200 sqm – new supply in Q1, more than in the whole of 2025
178,300 sqm – space under construction, down 11% y/y
Total office supply in Poland’s eight largest regional cities stands at 6.76 million sqm, almost half a million sqm more than Warsaw’s office stock. The market is highly concentrated. Kraków, with 1.85 million sqm, Wrocław, with 1.36 million sqm, and the Tricity, with 1.07 million sqm, together account for almost two thirds of total regional supply.
Demand in the first quarter reached 121,500 sqm, the lowest first-quarter result recorded since the beginning of 2021 and 29% lower than a year earlier. The Tricity was the leader in tenant activity, with 49,500 sqm leased, representing 41% of the total volume. It was followed by Wrocław, with 25,500 sqm, and Kraków, where demand amounted to 16,700 sqm. The sectors driving leasing activity were manufacturing, which accounted for 18% of transactions, business services with a 17% share, and IT with 13%. New leases represented 51% of the volume, while renegotiations accounted for 37%.
“The Tricity performs very strongly in the latest report, but this should not be viewed solely through the lens of a single quarter. It is a market that has been building its position quite consistently for some time: it has a diversified tenant base, good access to talent and the advantage of quality of life, which really matters in discussions with companies. That is why, even when tenants are more cautious, the Tricity is still able to attract demand. It is not a risk-free market, but compared with the largest regional markets, it is closest to a point of equilibrium,” says Piotr Skuza, Associate Director, Regional Manager, Office Agency, Savills.
The average vacancy rate for regional office markets stands at 17.4%, equivalent to 1.18 million sqm of available space. The highest levels are recorded in Katowice, at 22.1%, and Wrocław, at 22.0%. High availability also persists in Łódź, at 19.6%, and Kraków, at 18.4%. The Tricity stands out positively, with 10.8% of offices awaiting tenants, as does Szczecin, where the vacancy rate is 7.9%.
“Kraków and Katowice show two different faces of the office market. Kraków is the largest market outside Warsaw and remains the natural choice for many large organisations, but its scale also means strong competition between buildings. Katowice, in turn, has undergone a major qualitative transformation in recent years and now offers an increasingly strong office product, but with the highest vacancy rate among the major regional markets, it has to fight harder for every tenant decision. In both cities, we can see that companies are no longer looking only at space and address. They are asking about space efficiency, employee availability, commuting, costs and whether the office will help bring people back to on-site work,” says Marcin Gawlik, Associate Director, Office Agency, Savills.
“Wrocław remains one of the most important office markets in the country, but the game is now being played by different rules than a few years ago. With such high availability of space, tenants are not making decisions under pressure. They are checking costs, management quality, lease flexibility and whether the office genuinely responds to how teams work. Landlords therefore have to compete not only on address and building standard, but also on their ability to take care of the entire tenant experience,” says Dorota Kościelniak, Director, Office Agency, Savills.
Development activity remains at a historically low level. Less than 180,000 sqm of office space is currently under construction, 11% less than a year earlier and several times less than in previous cycles. By comparison, between 2015 and 2019, more than 900,000 sqm of office space was under construction on average.
Development activity is concentrated mainly in Poznań, where 72,900 sqm is under construction, and in Kraków, with 50,400 sqm. Although 47,200 sqm of offices were delivered in the first quarter alone, more than in the whole of 2025, total new supply this year will remain significantly below the long-term average.
“Today in Poznań, no one leases office space ‘just in case’. Decisions are cautious, carefully calculated and usually preceded by a long cost analysis. That is why the low leasing volume in the first quarter is not surprising, while the large amount of space under construction will be an important test. New projects must respond very precisely to companies’ needs: location, efficient layout, operating costs and flexible terms. In Poznań, a new building alone is not enough. What is, and will remain, crucial is matching space, costs and lease terms to the specific needs of companies,” comments Mateusz Jakubowicz, Associate, Regional Manager, Office Agency, Savills.
In the coming quarters, the pace of absorption of existing vacancies will be crucial. Limited new supply may help stabilise the market, but only if tenant activity gradually returns.
