Finding the home of their dreams
Poles are queuing up to put deposits down on apartments that have not yet been built, and residential developers appear to have little to worry about, thanks to a gulf between supply adn demand.
According to Marcelin Matusiak, of GfK Polonia: "The deficit of flats is two million. The queues for flats are growing and developers are still only taking care of number one."
Despite this, buyers still have their own expectations and concepts when it comes to looking for a place to live.
Murator Expo, which organises and manages real estate fairs, recently published research on what a prospective buyer is looking for in their new home. Some of the results will come as no surprise. The most desired location for a flat continues to be Mokotów. However, "we have also seen a greater popularity with suburban areas," says Milena Wiśniowolska, marketing director at Murator Expo. This means that clients are inclined to opt for a less convenient location with a more favorable price.
Size is another crucial factor for the homebuyer. At the moment, people are most interested in flats of 41 to 51 sqm and 51 to 60 sqm, which are in a minority on the market. Interestingly, there is a growing interest in large apartments above 130 sqm, and again this demand cannot be fully satisfied with current supply.
Most people want to move to a flat with two or three rooms situated in a four-storey brick building. Obviously, almost nobody would choose a packed concrete block of flats any more given a choice. "More and more people want to have their own house. This trend has been evident since May 2004," adds Wiśniowolska. Some 24 percent of those surveyed say they do not care about the size of their apartment's building.
Purchasers are well accustomed to protracted negotiations and the inevitable bureaucracy that goes with buying a home. Most future tenants are prepared to wait for the keys for between 12 months and three years.
A third of those surveyed said they wanted to move house immediately. New buildings tend to have a stronger appeal also, with most surveyed interested in buildings that are less than five years' old.
Polish wallets are generally not too thick, thus most of them are not willing to pay more than zl.3,500 per sqm. Still, it is difficult to generate such an amount of money immediately, with most people opting for a mortgage together with some of their own capital, like the majority of their European counterparts.
The most popular mortgages are for between zł.51 000 to zł.150 000 and are taken in Swiss francs. Often, people decide to be tied up by the installments for six to 25 years. Credit customers are also becoming more sophisticated and discerning; instead of going straight to their current bank or looking for information on their own, they consult a specialist to help them choose a mortgage appropriate to their situation.
All in all, the ideal flat is in a four-storey brick building situated in the Mokotów area, with two rooms for no more than zł.3,500 per sqm. Whether such a building exists is another problem, but developers will no doubt be tweaking their offers to try and give prospective buyers the home of their dreams.
According to Marcelin Matusiak, of GfK Polonia: "The deficit of flats is two million. The queues for flats are growing and developers are still only taking care of number one."
Despite this, buyers still have their own expectations and concepts when it comes to looking for a place to live.
Murator Expo, which organises and manages real estate fairs, recently published research on what a prospective buyer is looking for in their new home. Some of the results will come as no surprise. The most desired location for a flat continues to be Mokotów. However, "we have also seen a greater popularity with suburban areas," says Milena Wiśniowolska, marketing director at Murator Expo. This means that clients are inclined to opt for a less convenient location with a more favorable price.
Size is another crucial factor for the homebuyer. At the moment, people are most interested in flats of 41 to 51 sqm and 51 to 60 sqm, which are in a minority on the market. Interestingly, there is a growing interest in large apartments above 130 sqm, and again this demand cannot be fully satisfied with current supply.
Most people want to move to a flat with two or three rooms situated in a four-storey brick building. Obviously, almost nobody would choose a packed concrete block of flats any more given a choice. "More and more people want to have their own house. This trend has been evident since May 2004," adds Wiśniowolska. Some 24 percent of those surveyed say they do not care about the size of their apartment's building.
Purchasers are well accustomed to protracted negotiations and the inevitable bureaucracy that goes with buying a home. Most future tenants are prepared to wait for the keys for between 12 months and three years.
A third of those surveyed said they wanted to move house immediately. New buildings tend to have a stronger appeal also, with most surveyed interested in buildings that are less than five years' old.
Polish wallets are generally not too thick, thus most of them are not willing to pay more than zl.3,500 per sqm. Still, it is difficult to generate such an amount of money immediately, with most people opting for a mortgage together with some of their own capital, like the majority of their European counterparts.
The most popular mortgages are for between zł.51 000 to zł.150 000 and are taken in Swiss francs. Often, people decide to be tied up by the installments for six to 25 years. Credit customers are also becoming more sophisticated and discerning; instead of going straight to their current bank or looking for information on their own, they consult a specialist to help them choose a mortgage appropriate to their situation.
All in all, the ideal flat is in a four-storey brick building situated in the Mokotów area, with two rooms for no more than zł.3,500 per sqm. Whether such a building exists is another problem, but developers will no doubt be tweaking their offers to try and give prospective buyers the home of their dreams.
