The number of apartments for sale is growing. According to a report by Expander and portal Rentier.io in March 2022, 53% more new ads were published than in December last year. In most of the analyzed cities, real estate prices are rising, however, at the same time, creditworthiness has significantly decreased.
The report says that in March, there were recorded 106,925 active apartment sales offers. 42,556 were newly added offers which was about 53% more than in December 2021, when the downward trend, observed in the second half of last year, finally ended.
The authors of the list emphasize that the number of sale announcements has not resulted in significant price drops yet. In 11 of 17 examined cities, prices were still rising, while in the case of six, the rates were lower than a month earlier. Median prices per square meter fell the most in Gdynia – by 3.5% and in Poznań – by 2.4%.
In annual terms, the rates are on average 16% higher. The leader in this regard is Białystok, where the average price per m2 increased by 28%, from PLN 6,742 to PLN 8,662. Prices were settled at record high levels in 11 cities. The record of PLN 13,000 per m2 was broken for the first time in Warsaw, and PLN 11,000 per m2 in Gdańsk. The leaders inlcuded also Szczecin – an increase of 23%, Łódź and Poznań – 20% each.
The report also highlights the situation in the mortgage market. As indicated, the most important events were the entry into force of the new recommendation of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and the seventh consecutive increase in interest rates. The combination of these two elements significantly reduced the availability of mortgage loans. This caused creditworthiness to decline by around a quarter in just one month.
Experts indicated that in the case of a marriage with two children and an income of 6,000 PLN net, the average available loan amount in September 2021 was PLN 315 thousand. Their calculations show that a month ago it was only 197,000. PLN, and currently only 136.000PLN.
The report says that the market will face a significant slowdown in sales for at least a year. In the longer term, the situation looks more optimistic. Poland has an influx of over 2 million immigrants from Ukraine, some of them will stay in Poland. “Currently, they generate huge demand on the rental market. This raises rates and improves the profitability of investments in rental apartments, which at some point may restore investment demand”, experts estimate.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński order