A May rate cut by the Monetary Policy Council (RPP) has nudged buyers back to Poland’s secondary housing market, trimming the stock of listings in most large cities while keeping price growth in check, a GetHome.pl report said.
“Across all metros, the secondary market now beats the primary on affordability. In June, Kraków was the exception, but in July used homes were cheaper per square meter there too,” said Marek Wielgo of GetHome.pl.
With developers expanding supply, secondary-market sellers have had to negotiate more and often cut asking prices. Average resale prices fell year-on-year in the two biggest markets: Warsaw down 3% to about 17,800 zlotys per sq m and Kraków down 6% to 16,600.
Elsewhere, prices were higher than a year earlier: Tri-City up 5% to roughly PLN 16,100 per sq m; Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia up 4% to about 8,800; Łódź up 3% to 8,900; Wrocław and Poznań up 1% to 14,200 and 11,800, respectively. Łódź was an outlier, where faster growth in secondary prices likely reflects a rising share of new units amid many PRL-era blocks and old tenements, the report said.
After May’s stabilization, July marked a second month of shrinking secondary-market offers in most metros, Adradar data showed: Warsaw listings fell 4% to 17,600; Tri-City 3% to 8,600; Wrocław 2% to 9,800; Kraków 1% to 9,400. Łódź was flat, while Katowice rose 4% to 2,400 and Poznań 3% to 4,000.
New secondary listings reached 33,500 in July, up 8% from June, and about 35,500 offers were withdrawn, up 6%. “Most likely this was the effect of the RPP’s rate cut. And with the government abandoning a planned mortgage-subsidy program, waiting made little sense,” Wielgo said.
Stronger demand also shortened selling times in Q2, the “Barometr Metrohouse&Credipass” showed: Warsaw averaged 92 days from listing to sale, while the five largest cities (Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Gdańsk and Łódź) averaged 135 days—24 days faster in Warsaw and seven days faster across the five than in Q1.
Warsaw returned to typical recent-years levels, while other markets remain under pressure from abundant supply, which the report said favors sellers.
(jh)
Source: Polskie Radio 24