Poland has cheap apartments but remains underhoused - Deloitte

Poland has one of the lowest average price per sqm of apartments in Europe, according to a report by advisory Deloitte “Property Index. Overview of European Residential Markets - European Housing 2013,” which analyzed 14 EU states as well as Russia and Israel. The average apartment price in Poland stood at €1,000 per sqm and was higher only than the prices in Hungary and Portugal. In Warsaw, apartment price per sqm averaged some €1,700 and increased by 3 percent over the past year. Only two EU major cities have lower prices: Lisbon (€1,600 per sqm) and Budapest (€1,100 per sqm). By comparison, apartment prices in Prague stood at €2,400 per sqm. London inner-city and Paris remain the most expensive residential markets, followed by Munich. Poland is also significantly underhoused compared to other countries. There are 357 apartments per 1,000 Poles, which is 25 percent below EU average (476 apartments per 1,000 residents). Spain has the highest number of apartments, 18 percent above EU average, which is partly due to the fact that as many as 33 percent of all apartments are holiday homes. The level of mortgage indebtedness is still relatively low in Poland, with Poles’ entire mortgage debt amounting to 20 percent of the country’s GDP. Poland’s level of indebtedness is higher than in the Czech Republic (14 percent) and slightly lower than in Hungary (21 percent). Central European countries remain significantly behind mature Western economies in the level of mortgage indebtedness. For instance, the level of indebtedness in Denmark and the Netherlands exceeds 100 percent of GDP.