The same money, and the apartment is 11 square meters smaller. What’s going on?

The report takes into account inflation data and examines the impact of the minimum wage on the costs of building houses and apartments. We will also find here an analysis of trends and calculations that clearly show that waiting for lower interest rates is not worth it.

Smaller apartment, same price

Taking into account data from the second quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2024, there is a drastic difference in the available apartment space. In the six largest cities in Poland (excluding Warsaw), an apartment costs PLN 700,000. PLN in 2023 was approximately 65.0 m². A year later, for the same amount you can buy an apartment with an area of ​​only 53.8 m². This is as much as 11.2 m² less, which means that potential buyers have to give up an additional bedroom or a spacious bathroom with a wardrobe. Paradoxically, developers continue to record record profits.

“The increase in prices on the real estate market also affected the secondary market. Apartments in older, well-designed housing estates in convenient locations turned out to be particularly attractive. In many cases, prices per square meter in such estates even exceeded the prices of new apartments in less prestigious locations,” we read.

Or maybe renting?

Although renting is still one of the options for people who cannot (or do not want to) decide to buy an apartment, its costs are so high that for many investors it becomes an obstacle to building their own capital. Rental costs in Poland remain high, with the highest increases last year recorded in Kielce (8.3%), while Łódź can boast of the largest drop in rental prices (-5.2%).

Rising rental costs are not the only challenge that people choosing this form of residence have to face. In the context of low pension forecasts, where ZUS reports indicate future benefits amounting to only 25-30% of the current salary, renting an apartment in the long term may turn out to be very risky. Investing in your own apartment seems to be a more reasonable choice if you want to secure your future.

House prices will also increase

A significant increase in housing prices causes house prices to increase in a similar way. However, it can be seen that in the case of building a house, there is a delay.

An easier procedure for purchasing a flat means that there are fewer people willing to build a house, which means that houses are still more attractively priced. The costs of building a house, depending on the region, have increased in recent years from 9.5% in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, 4.92% in the Masovian Voivodeship and 5.54% in Małopolska to 2.96% in Silesia. For single-family houses, price increases are close to inflation. In the same period, apartment prices increased by up to 20%. This shows that, given limited funds, building a single-family house is currently a more cost-effective investment than purchasing an apartment.

– Today, it is relatively easy to buy materials or find a construction team with experience and qualifications that offers its services at competitive prices. However, this positive trend is now coming to an end. PSB Group reports show that the prices of construction materials are starting to increase, and older professionals are leaving the profession – says Wojciech Rynkowski from Extradom.pl.

An increase in the cost of building a house by 5-10% may seem small compared to how much housing prices have increased. However, considering the cost of the entire investment, this is a big difference – in the case of PLN 600,000. PLN 30,000 and PLN 60,000 respectively. zloty. If we add the increase in plot prices, it becomes obvious that it is no longer worth delaying the decision to build.