Expensive apartments are becoming more and more popular. Studio apartments are still on offer

Summer stabilization on the primary market does not necessarily mean that developers are increasingly offering cheaper apartments. The latest BIG DATA RynekPierwotny.pl data show that the structure of the available offer is changing in the largest Polish metropolises. More and higher-priced apartments are entering the market, while in some cities the choice of relatively cheaper apartments is shrinking.

It is the structure of new supply that increasingly influences the average prices visible in the statistics. A good example is Wrocław, where in July a large group of apartments appeared, valued on average at over PLN 20,000. PLN per square meter. As a result, the average price per square meter offered by local developers increased by 4%. and approached 15.9 thousand. zloty.

– July showed that changes in the average price of apartments are increasingly determined by the structure of new supply. In the largest cities, there are more and more premises from higher price segments. This was particularly visible in Wrocław, where a large pool of apartments costing on average over PLN 20,000 was put on sale. PLN per square meter – says Marek Wielgo, expert of the RynekPierwotny.pl portal.

As he notes, a different situation occurred in Warsaw. There, the average price per square meter dropped in July by about 1%, to about PLN 19,800. PLN, because apartments were offered for sale with an average price of just under PLN 15.2 thousand. PLN per square meter. However, this should not be interpreted as a broad downward trend. In the capital, as in other largest cities, the number of the most expensive premises increased significantly over the year.

Premises for over PLN 20,000 PLN per meter are no longer rare

Within 12 months, the offer of apartments costing more than PLN 20,000. PLN per square meter increased in all seven analyzed metropolises. The biggest change can be seen in Wrocław, where the number of such premises increased from less than 500 to approximately 1.2 thousand, which means an increase of as much as 142%.

In Poznań, the number of apartments in this segment also doubled – from 276 to 552. In Warsaw, the number increased from approximately 3.6 thousand. to approximately 5.2 thousand, and in the Tricity from approximately 2.1 thousand. to nearly 3 thousand In both cases, this means an increase of 42%. In Krakow, the number of premises exceeding the threshold of 20,000. PLN per square meter increased from approximately PLN 1.3 thousand. to approximately 1.8 thousand, i.e. by 35 percent.

Importantly, very expensive apartments are also starting to become visible in markets that have not previously been associated with such high prices. In Łódź, their number increased from two to 43, and in the cities of the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis – from six to 32. It is still a small part of the entire offer, but the direction of changes is clear.

– Just a few years ago, apartments costing over PLN 20,000. PLN per square meter were the domain of single premium investments. Today, they constitute an increasingly important market segment, and in some metropolises they are no longer a niche – comments Marek Wielgo.

At the same time, the number of apartments in lower price ranges is decreasing in many large markets. In Warsaw, the number of premises costing less than PLN 15,000. PLN per square meter dropped during the year from PLN 5.3 thousand. up to 4.3 thousand A similar, 18% decrease was recorded in Wrocław – from 6.2 thousand. up to 5.1 thousand premises. The offer also decreased in Tricity by 12%. and in Poznań by 22 percent.

The cheaper offer is shrinking in parts of the metropolis

However, not all cities follow suit. In Krakow, the number of apartments costing less than PLN 15,000. PLN per square meter increased slightly – from PLN 3.4 thousand. up to 3.5 thousand An even greater increase was recorded in Łódź, where the offer of premises valued at a maximum of PLN 12,000. PLN per square meter increased from PLN 5.7 thousand up to 6.1 thousand apartments. In the cities of the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis, there were 6.5 thousand such premises. up to 7.1 thousand

BIG DATA RynekPierwotny.pl data show the relationship between the structure of available apartments and changes in the average price. Where the offer of relatively cheaper premises shrunk the most, the increase in the average price per square meter was more pronounced. Over a 12-month period, the average price increased by:

• 11 percent in Warsaw,

• 8 percent in Wrocław,

• 8 percent in Tricity,

• 5 percent in Poznań.

In Kraków, the average price per square meter increased by 3%, and in Łódź by 2%. In both of these cities, there was no decline in the number of apartments from lower price segments. In turn, in the cities of the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis, the average price per square meter was 1 percent higher. lower than the year before.

– As you can see, the average price per square meter does not show the full picture of the market. Today, its changes are determined not only by price increases or decreases, but also by the structure of apartments for sale. The problem is that an increasing part of the offer consists of higher-priced apartments, notes Wielgo.

Why are developers offering more and more expensive apartments?

According to experts from the RynekPierwotny.pl website, changing the structure of the offer does not necessarily mean that apartment building companies ignore the financial situation of potential buyers. The development market is operating with a significant delay. Investments are prepared in advance, and decisions regarding their implementation depend, among others, on the dates of construction permits, the stage of project advancement and previous business assumptions. The ability to quickly adapt new supply to current demand is therefore limited.

At the same time, in Warsaw, Krakow, Wrocław and Tricity, a large group of customers are people purchasing apartments of a higher standard or improving their current housing conditions. BIG DATA RynekPierwotny.pl indicates that in the largest markets, apartments with at least four rooms find buyers faster than small premises.

– In the largest metropolises, large apartments are disappearing from the market the fastest. They are purchased primarily by those buyers who, thanks to the improved availability of loans, can now afford a higher standard or larger premises – says Jan Dziekoński, chief economist of the RynekPierwotny.pl portal.

In the seven largest markets, the time it takes to sell four-room and larger apartments is on average less than five quarters. In the case of studio apartments, this period reaches almost nine quarters. In Warsaw, large apartments sell on average in just over three quarters, and studio apartments need about six quarters to find a buyer. The difference is even greater in Krakow, where the sales time for large apartments is less than five quarters, while studio apartments remain on offer for over 11 quarters on average.

– This shows that the demand for larger apartments remains relatively strong despite high prices, but the offer is also too small in relation to the needs – admits Jan Dziekoński.

A similar situation can also be seen in Wrocław, where large premises find buyers on average within almost four quarters, and studio apartments need more than nine quarters. In the Tricity, the difference is smaller and amounts to approximately five quarters in the case of larger apartments and six in the case of studio apartments. Also in Poznań, Katowice and Łódź, larger premises sell faster, although in these markets the selling time is generally longer.