|
 Although it has been only four years since accession to the European Union, Poland's property market is beginning to show how dynamic it really is, says Oliver Bennett
IT SEEMS AN odd situation, when so many of its country-folk appear to be working abroad, that Poland's property market should be considered vibrant. But then, investment in the country has been growing since its accession to the European Union in 2004, and in 2006, in its European Housing Review, the UK's Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported that Poland was showing the biggest growth in house prices of all Eastern European countries. What's more, Poland's construction market is riding high - research recently conducted by consulting firm PMR showed a continuing upswing in building - creating a demand that is drawing expat Poles back to their own country. That Poland (along with Ukraine) is hosting the 2012 European Football Championships offers an additional boost.
So, the Polish property market is being bolstered by a dynamic mixture of foreign investors and Poles returning home with capital. According to investment company Property Frontiers, the country attracts much foreign investment - currently around €4.5bn a year - and is rated fifth in the World FDI (foreign direct investment) Confidence Index. Unemployment is down and mortgages are more available: Property Frontiers reports that the residential loans market should grow 20 to 30% a year, with capital gains tax nil after five years. Some of this energy has been created by those returning Polish workers, who have been estimated to bring €5.9bn back into the country, revitalising the home economy and creating the conditions for an extremely lively market.
 "It is now almost part of the Polish culture that young people will head abroad for three or four years to work," says Tim Hill, operations director of Mamdom, a leading Polish property sales portal. "Then they return and want to build their own houses." Given a choice, these properties tend to be in the suburbs, he adds. "Polish cities tend to be very high density, and are predominantly made up of apartment blocks. Poles who have worked abroad tend to want something more than an apartment, are either self-building properties or buying ready-designed homes from housing catalogues that are sold in newsagents."
The foreign investors, on the other hand, tend to go to the big new-build projects that have emerged in the Polish cities in the last five years. Often sold off plan, they yield a rental income as well as resale potential. "Yields are not particularly brilliant at about five to 10%, so the buyers are more interested in the capital gains," says Hill. But in most cases, he argues, these still have some way to go.
Poland does not get the sun-seekers who have made Bulgaria boom in the last few years, but it has other factors that make it attractive. It is a big country, with several cities that are growing business centres, lovely historic towns and an underdeveloped tourism sector. Nick Barnes, international researcher at UK agents Knight Frank, says that there has recently been much interest from overseas buyers in the Polish cities beyond the capital Warsaw: these include Katowice, Poznan, Lodz, Lublin, Wroclaw and Gdansk. These new-build buy-tolet investments, says Polish property specialist Louis Mann of Validus, are usually lettable to young, upwardly mobile Poles, and are sometimes exclusively targeted at foreign buyers. However, if this kind of investment is of interest then check the local market closely: it may be harder to rent on completion than you have been led to believe, and the secondary market may be untested.
 Tim Hill says that the Polish market is generally healthy. However, as everywhere, it is also conceivable that property prices could drop, despite there being a severe housing shortage in Poland. And in some areas, the market may have peaked. For instance, it is not expected that the historic core of Krakow will yield any more surprises. In which case, says Hill, be creative and look a little bit further. "Krakow has seen massive price growth in the Old Town, but it has other districts that are underdeveloped," he says. "I'd tell people not to ignore Krakow or Warsaw: they have further to go." Look at less trodden areas, he says, such as Warsaw's Bialoleka district.
Many of the new-build properties are making up a property shortfall and are attracting the younger generation in Poland, who no longer want to live in the concrete Communist-era blocks, which are consequently unfashionable. But don't ignore them, says Hill. "These blocks are actually very solid and in some cases better built and more generously-proportioned than the new-build blocks," he says. "They can be bought for L60,000 and are popular rental options for students, for instance."
The rural Polish market has also started to look stronger, and the truly dedicated can seek out historic properties, of which there are many, particularly in the Silesia region. But be careful, counsels Hill: "Some are attracted to these palaces, but they soon realise that the restoration costs are enormous." Smaller traditional properties may be available in areas of natural beauty, such as the Polish lake district, Warminsko-Mazurskie, but in the deep countryside, watch out for restrictions. "It may come under the heading of farmland, which means that there are restrictions for foreign ownership," says Hill. This rule was put into place to stop a potentially huge land grab after Polish accession into the EU in 2004: it is due to be relaxed 12 years after the EU accession, in 2016.
Poland does, however, offer ski property, most notably the famous Zakopane resort - which bid (albeit unsuccessfully) for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and is a historic venue in the Tatra Mountains close to Krakow. "It's not the cheapest in Poland, but Zakopane is very popular and established," says Edward Stevenson of Letterstone property investment group. There are other resorts in the Tatra Mountains of southern Poland that might be less expensive, such as pretty Wisla, a long-established destination for central Europeans. With the mix of returnees and investors, Poland is likely to be a lively market for some time yet.
Chociaż od przystąpienia Polski do Unii Europejskiej minęły zaledwie cztery lata, dynamika rozwoju polskiego rynku nieruchomości jest bardzo wysoka. Składa się na to m.in. wysoki poziom inwestycji oraz napływ kapitału przywożonego przez powracających z zagranicy Polaków.
„To stało się już częścią polskiej kultury, że młodzi ludzie wyjeżdżają na trzy, cztery lata," mówi Tom Hill, dyrektor portalu Mamdom. „Potem wracają i budują domy." Natomiast zagranicznych inwestorów bardziej interesują nowe apartamentowce.
Tak jak wszędzie, również w przypadku polskiego rynku nie można wykluczyć spadku cen nieruchomości. W niektórych miejscach rynek mógł się już nasycić. „Radziłbym jednak nie ignorować Krakowa ani Warszawy," mówi Tom Hill. „Warto zainteresować się mniej popularnymi dzielnicami, takimi jak np. warszawska Białołęka."
Młodzi ludzie nie chcą już mieszkać w komunistycznych blokach z betonu. „Radziłbym się jednak zastanowić," przekonuje Hill. „Tak naprawdę te bloki są solidne, a czasami lepiej zbudowane niż nowe. Można je kupić za L60,000 i przeznaczyć na wynajem dla studentów."
|
