Same square footage, completely different price. Has the housing market gone crazy? Experts explain

It is difficult to talk about a single trend in the new apartment market today. Depending on the city and segment, buyers may have experienced price stabilization over the last year or had to pay over PLN 100,000 for a 50-square-meter apartment. PLN more. BIG DATA RynekPierwotny.pl data show that the average price per square meter no longer reflects the market situation well.

Three segments instead of one average

The differences between apartments are huge. In Warsaw, prices of premises available from developers start from just under PLN 9.5 thousand. PLN per square meter, and end up at over PLN 53,000. zloty. In Krakow, the range is from 8.8 thousand. up to 37.6 thousand PLN, in Wrocław from 8.4 thousand. up to 45.4 thousand PLN, and in Tricity from PLN 8.1 thousand. up to 36.6 thousand zloty.

– Buyers often ask whether apartment prices are rising or falling. The answer depends on what kind of apartment they are looking for. There are market segments addressed to different groups of buyers operating side by side and their prices change at different rates. In the popular segment, prices are more stable, while in the premium segment, buyers have to dig deeper into their pockets. Therefore, the average price per square meter describes what is actually happening on the housing market less and less well, says Marek Wielgo, an expert at the RynekPierwotny.pl portal.

Therefore, analysts of the RynekPierwotny.pl portal divided the developers’ offer into three parts: 25 percent. the cheapest apartments went to the popular segment, 25 percent the most expensive to premium, and the remaining half to the higher standard segment. Instead of the average, the median, i.e. the middle value, was used – half of the apartments cost less and half more.

The first apartment was not equally expensive everywhere

For people looking for their first apartment, the most important is the popular segment. In this case, the market in many cities has clearly slowed down. In Łódź, the median price per square meter remained at PLN 9.5 thousand. PLN, and in the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis it decreased from PLN 9.2 thousand. up to 9 thousand zloty.

The increases were visible primarily in Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław. The median increased there by 3, 5 and 4 percent, respectively. Prices went up much more in Poznań and Tricity – by 8 and 7 percent, respectively. For a 50-square-meter apartment, this means an additional expense of approximately PLN 44,000. PLN in Poznań and 37 thousand PLN in Tricity.

– We can therefore say that in most metropolises, people with a budget sufficient to purchase apartments from the cheapest segment were no longer under such strong time pressure as they were two or three years ago – admits Marek Wielgo.

In the Tricity, 50 meters costs PLN 149,000. PLN more

The biggest surprise came from the higher standard segment. In the Tricity, the median price per square meter increased from PLN 14.2 thousand during the year. up to 17.2 thousand PLN, i.e. by 21%. With an apartment of 50 square meters, this gives almost PLN 149,000. PLN difference. This happened despite an increase in the number of apartments offered by almost 7%.

– However, this does not necessarily mean that developers massively increased the prices of the same apartments. It is more likely that relatively more expensive investments were put on sale, and at the same time relatively cheaper apartments available in this segment disappeared from the offer. As a result, the price of apartments available to buyers increased – says an expert from the RynekPierwotny.pl portal.

An increase in the median in this segment was also recorded in Warsaw and Poznań – by 7 and 6 percent, respectively. In Krakow, the price remained at PLN 16,000. PLN per meter, and in Łódź it dropped by 2%.

The premium segment is increasingly diversifying the market

Even higher amounts appear for the most expensive apartments. In Warsaw, the median price per square meter increased from PLN 21.9 thousand. up to 25 thousand zloty. This means that the value of a 50-square-meter apartment corresponding to the median increased by approximately PLN 153,000. zloty. In Wrocław, an increase of 10%. translates into approximately 90 thousand. PLN, and in Krakow an 8% increase means approximately PLN 78,000. PLN more.

– Also in this case, the increase in the median can be explained by a change in the structure of the offer. New investments in attractive locations went on sale, and relatively cheaper apartments quickly found buyers. As a result, not so much the price of a specific apartment increased, but the price of the apartments from which buyers could choose. A good example is Warsaw, where the number of apartments available was practically the same as a year earlier, and yet the median price in the premium segment increased by 14%. – notes Wielgo.

In the Tricity, the situation was the opposite – the median in the premium segment practically did not change and currently amounts to 22.3 thousand. PLN per meter. It also remained unchanged in the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis, where it reaches 14.7 thousand. zloty.

So the data shows that buyers should look primarily at the segment that suits their budget and needs. In the same city, the situation of a person looking for an inexpensive first apartment may be completely different from that of a client interested in a premium apartment.