Piotr Bartkiewicz, an expert of the Polish state-controlled bank Pekao was quoted by the agency as saying that Poles “should expect a further increase in apartment prices” by around 5 percent, compared to an average of 10 percent in 2021.
An increase in construction material prices and developers’ good financial situation will be among the main driving forces behind a predicted further increase in the prices of apartments in Poland, despite forecasted lower demand for new apartments.
An earlier study by the Polish Association of Developers found out that in 2021, the total number of flats sold by developers nationwide hit a record high of 165,000, and property prices in Poland's six largest cities rose by 17 percent year on year.
According to that study, a shrinking supply of new flats will pose a problem in bigger cities where the total number of apartments available for purchase plummeted by 20 percent in December, compared to the same month of 2020.
A shortage of building lots, coupled with red tape, is expected to be one of the main reasons for future price hikes in larger municipal areas, , the Polish Association of Developers said in the report.
In smaller towns, meanwhile, the real estate market will gather steam, though apartment prices will continue to climb amid soaring inflation, according to the Polish Association of Developers.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, builders in Poland completed around 234,700 new dwellings last year, 6.3 percent more than in 2020, the country’s Central Statistical Office (GUS) reported in January.
There is still a shortage of around 2 million housing units in Poland, according to some real estate experts.
(tf)
Source: PAP