Residential construction on route to hit record high

Growth was especially high among the residential properties completed by property developers, which surged by 76.3% y/y, to just under 14,000. This is the fastest growth rate in 18 years, and the number of new homes for the year could establish a new record, surpassing the 163,000 completed in 2003, according to Zofia Bolkowska, a construction expert at the School of Law and Management. However, the high growth is the delayed effect of the phenomenal demand from homebuyers seen in 2006, which has softened since. Indeed, a new report by Open Finance shows that the prices of flats in March declined in nine out of the ten cities it studied. In Warsaw the average price dropped by 1.8% to zł.8,682 per square meter. Prices fell most steeply in Gdynia and Katowice, by almost 5%. (Dziennik - The Wall Street Journal Polska, p. 4) R.M.