Fair fortunes
As the industry gears up for the 2008 fair season, Lokale Immobilia takes a closer look at the role these events play, and how they reflect trends on the market.
The residential fair season has begun in Poland, bringing with it a host of events showcasing attractive new residential projects in the country's large cities. Staged in both spring and autumn, these fairs have become a characteristic and integral part of the Polish real estate market, one from which the organizer, developers and clients all benefit.
"The staging of residential fairs is by all means a profitable business in Poland as the situation on the residential real estate market justifies the organization of a large number of such events," said Małgorzata Młynarska from fair organizer Nowy Adres.
Continuing growth
Residential fair organizers agree that these events accurately reflect the condition of the market. During fairs in 2007, for example, the stabilization of prices was mirrored in the number of visitors as well as in developers' offers. In general, however, the residential fair market in Poland - dominated by companies including redNet Property Group, Murator Expo and Nowy Adres - has been growing over the last few years, with new exhibition projects launching in Poland's most rapidly developing cities.
"We currently stage editions of the Tabelaofert.pl residential fair in seven Polish cities. The Warsaw edition is understandably the largest, due to the size of the market, but the fast-developing residential markets of regional cities such as Poznań and Wrocław allow for the organization of large exhibition events there too," said Kamil Lesiew of redNet Property Group's public relations department. He added that the company was thinking of expanding into other secondary Polish cities, including the eastern city of Białystok.
Special offers
Residential fairs provide visitors with the opportunity to become familiar with the local residential market. The events bring together a large number of developers, which allows visitors to analyze and compare their offers, and many new projects are presented to the public for the very first time. Of equal significance is the fact that, due to the fierce competition and large number of potential clients present, these are events at which developers are likely to present special offers.
According to both fair organizers and developers, visitors at these events generally form two distinct groups of clients. Some attendees come with no particular projects in mind and hope that the visit will aid in the decision-making process. Others, by contrast, are interested in contacting a specific developer or finding additional information on a particular development. Even if they do not make the decision to sign a contract at the fair itself, these visitors tend to show up at the developer's office soon afterwards.
Nevertheless, developers argue, attending the fairs is crucial in terms of marketing. "Residential fairs are, for Budimex, one of the most important ways of reaching the potential client. The presence itself certainly cannot substitute advertising in the media, but is a significant supplement to marketing activities," said Iwona Pasterska, sales department director at Budimex Nieruchomości. "One cannot overestimate the [value] of a face-to-face conversation with potential clients, who thereby obtain full information on the investment, technology and contract provisions which they can immediately compare with the competition's offers," she added.
Not just apartments
Residential fairs, however, are much more than a simple presentation of developers' current offers. They allow the client to obtain a great deal of knowledge and advice related to the purchase and furnishing of an apartment.
"Our residential fairs not only provide the potential client with an overview of concrete investments but also constitute a comprehensive offer aimed at everyone who is considering the purchase of an apartment. The attendees have the chance to participate in a large number of lectures and discussions with independent experts that may help them throughout the process of buying an apartment," said Agnieszka Ziemiańska, marketing director at Murator EXPO.
A potential client attending a residential fair could, for example, assess a particular real estate project with the help of a property appraiser and get a lawyer's advice concerning a developer contract. There is also the chance to consult a financial adviser and obtain mortgage advice as well as to discuss decoration with an interior designer.
"Our topic-related seminars are meant to address all the doubts and questions that a property-buyer may have," said Młynarska. She added that, in her company's experience, it is common that visitors spend one day of the event visiting developers' stands and then come again the following day just for the sake of attending a seminar or consulting an expert.
Expanding abroad
The development of the Polish residential market as well as the growing number of Poles living and working outside of the country have also brought about the first international editions of Polish residential fairs. In November 2007, for example, Murator EXPO staged its "POLSKA 2008 Nowy DOM, Nowe MIESZKANIE" fair in the Irish capital of Dublin. Earlier this month, the firm held a similar event in London.
The Dublin and London exhibition projects were somewhat different from the regular residential fair staged in Polish cities in that they were carried out in a mixed exhibition/fair formula. Developers presented their investments on special graphic boards, but not all developers decided to send representatives. People attending the fairs - and in Dublin, this amounted to approximately 1,000 - could nevertheless get a broader view of Poland's residential market from a bilingual catalogue which featured offers from various parts of the country, as well from a number of other sources.
"Our new exhibition project has met with considerable interest among Poles both in Dublin and London. We tried, however, to reach Irish and English clients as well and special meetings and conferences were organized for them," said Ziemiańska. "More editions in Dublin and London are scheduled for this year and we are already considering other cities with large Polish populations as potential locations to host this kind of event," she added.
