Boom in the new-build flat market in Katowice in the second quarter of 2015
Text from 2019. Laws, rates and prices may have changed since then. Ask an agent
In the second quarter of 2015, compared with the previous one, the number of flat transactions on the primary market in Katowice rose by more than 65% and the number of listings by as much as 29%. On the secondary market, both the number of transactions and the number of listings fell slightly, by nearly 4%.
According to data from the National Bank of Poland, the second quarter was particularly successful for developers, as there were significant increases in both the number of sale contracts signed and the number of listings, compared with both the previous quarter and the second quarter of the previous year.
What is behind the increases?
The increase in the number of transactions and listings in the second quarter of 2015 results from developers launching a number of new developments and completing projects already under way. Worth noting here are developments such as Osiedle Franciszkańskie, where the first stage (90 flats) was completed and the second stage of construction (96 flats) began, or the Bażantów V–VIII estate, where 421 flats are being built in total.
The average asking price has stabilised over the last year on both the primary and secondary markets, at about 5,600 PLN and 4,000 PLN per sq m respectively. Transaction prices, in turn, despite minor quarterly fluctuations, remain on average at about 4,900 PLN per sq m when buying new flats in Katowice and about 3,400 PLN per sq m for second-hand ones.
Average flat prices on the primary and secondary markets in Katowice [PLN/m2]
Source: Flash information from the National Bank of Poland Regional Branch in Katowice,
The residential property market in Katowice and in selected cities of the Silesian agglomeration – Q2 2015.
– One of the important factors driving the growth in flat sales on the primary market is the government's "Flat for the Young" (Mieszkanie dla Młodych, MDM) programme, under which 257 applications were submitted in the second quarter, and as many as 340 in the directly neighbouring cities. The MDM limit in the second quarter rose to 4,773 PLN and is only slightly lower than the average transaction price, which shows that most flats meet the programme's conditions. – explains Marta Kulawik, expert on the Silesian property market and Manager of the REMAX Gold estate agency in Katowice.
It is worth noting that the second quarter saw the biggest rise in sales, particularly of the smallest flats, up to 40m2, whose number of transactions rose almost 4-fold on the primary market and by 27% on the secondary market. What is more, studio flats were the only group of second-hand flats in Katowice whose sales rose; in the other groups the number of transactions fell by 11%.
The differences between asking and transaction prices on the flat market are around 15%. – The greatest room for price negotiation, both with developers and on the secondary market, is in the segment of flats of 40 to 80 sq m, because they make up as much as 67% of all flats available on the market. Such a large supply means that average discounts from the asking price are in the range of 16-18%, and for studio flats and the largest flats only about 10%. – says Marta Kulawik.
Forecasts for the third and fourth quarters of 2015
Demand for flats is expected to keep rising in the third and fourth quarters, owing to changes in the "Flat for the Young" programme which, from September, will raise the area limits used to calculate the subsidy to 65 m2 and will also cover the secondary market and flats sold by housing cooperatives. The second important factor is persistently low interest rates, which on the one hand lower the cost of loans and on the other mean that investing in flats brings a decidedly higher return than bank deposits.
