Demand for apartments in the capital exceeds supply, availability is falling and prices are rising. At the end of mid-2021, for the first time in history, the price of an sqm of an apartment on offer in Warsaw exceeded PLN 12,000 and was 7.8 percent higher than at the end of 2020, according to the latest data from redNet Property Group and CBRE.
As many as 12,800 premises found their owners, which is almost a third more than in the previous six months. At the same time, the number of apartments for sale decreased by 30.2 percent. Experts indicate that if the demand remains at such a high level in the coming months, the currently available premises will be absorbed by the market in six months.
“The decreasing number of new units for sale and the rapidly growing prices are the most important effects of the pandemic on the Warsaw housing market. The size of the offer in relation to the number of transactions concluded indicates that currently the demand strongly exceeds the supply. The interest is not decreasing and developers are reporting problems with delivering new projects to the market. There are difficulties with the availability of land and lengthy administrative procedures. Much will also depend on the development of the pandemic situation. However, a repeat of the collapse that we saw in the first half of 2020 is unlikely. What's more, good coping with Covid-19 may result in increased optimism on the market and positive prospects for both apartments for sale and for rent,” Agnieszka Mikulska, an expert in the housing department of CBRE, said.
In Warsaw, from January to June this year. developers introduced 9,892 flats to the market. This is 22.3 percent more than in the same period last year when the market was most affected by the effects of the pandemic. However, this was not enough to meet the demand. At the end of the first half of 2021, the offer included 11,300 dwellings, i.e. 30.2 percent less y/y and 21.1 percent less than six months earlier.
(WBJ)