Suburban Dream Turns Sour: Poles Return to Cities for Quicker Commutes, Amenities

Poles are fleeing from the suburbs and buying apartments in city centers. “They don’t want to be taxi drivers for their children”.

– I’m tired of being a taxi driver for my children – a recent client said after selling a semi-detached house, purchased in the outskirts of a large city just a few years earlier, he simultaneously decided to buy an apartment almost in the very city center. Increasing numbers of people, who used to dream of a house in the countryside, now wish to move back to the city. Real estate experts argue that there’s a decline in the popularity of houses and semi-detached houses in the suburbs and moving to suburbia from large urban areas is not always a thoughtful decision.

Once quiet, now crowded. Suburbs have their advantages and plenty of downsides

A suburban house with a garden, half an hour’s drive from the city center – it seems like an ideal formula for a bucolic life, living close to the workplace and school for the children but surrounded by greenery and nature. It turns out that this lifestyle formula is not attractive for everyone.

– Since June, I have managed to close three transactions where relatively young families with children decided to sell their suburban home and instead purchase an apartment in or near the town center. The trend is clear that living in the countryside has its advantages, but also significant disadvantages that can significantly impact family life – said Mirosław Król, a real estate market expert.

What are these downsides?

– Above all, the lack of public infrastructure. Lack of nurseries, lack of kindergartens, the necessity to commute to work and grocery shopping. Clients openly state that they were not aware they would spend a significant part of their lives in cars, and commuting during rush hours often proves to be a serious problem – says Mirosław Król.

– The changing character of the suburbs is another issue. Once quiet, they now become bedroom communities with hundreds of houses and apartment blocks. Therefore, moving to the suburbs used to mean escaping from the hustle and bustle, but nowadays many suburban communities are as busy as city centers – states Mirosław Król.

Selling a house and buying an apartment. Sometimes even two

A house in the countryside is always an investment that allows us to finance the purchase of an apartment in the city center and sometimes even leaves a substantial amount of money left over. It all depends on the location, the square footage, finish standard, the object’s location and whether it’s a multi-dwelling, a semi-detached house, or a detached house. A garden often plays a deciding role greenery in whether or not a certain house will be purchased.

– For the price of a semi-detached house, we can usually afford a spacious apartment in the city center. A sizable house can even fetch the price of two apartments or an apartment and a studio. This model usually works with the apartment serving as the place of residence and studios as an investment asset. Also, situations occur where the family purchases an apartment and moves into it but also retains the house as a rental property or a place to live in the later years when the children are grown-up. This model is uncommon, as while it’s easy to sell a house, it’s tough to rent, especially in the suburbs – says Mirosław Król, a real estate market expert.

As the expert points out, there were fewer real estate transactions in the second quarter of 2024 than in the same quarter of 2023.