Savills Magazine, Issue 61, 2008
European champion
The growth of the Polish economy and sound signs of future progress are creating opportunities in its residential market
Just as poor quality housing is tumbling down across Eastern Europe, demand for high-end housing is rising at a rapid pace. Poland is the perfect example of this, with foreign investment and wealthy domestic investors fuelling the trend. Supporting this ‘new market’ feel is the ongoing strength of the Polish economy, which is being boosted by injections of capital from foreign investors and EU programmes, all encouraged by the prospect of the European Football Championships in 2012. Importantly, Poland is less likely to suffer repercussions from the credit crunch as lending practices have not been as aggressive as in Western Europe and the US.
Having identified the domestic demand for high-end homes, Savills Poland has branched out into residential sales. Indeed, the company’s first residential instruction is a €30 euro villa in Piaseczno. Brian Burgess, Head of Savills Warsaw, comments, “The purchase of top-end homes as completed buildings is still relatively new in Poland. Previously, most of this type of owner preferred to build themselves. Times have moved on and occupiers now want to ‘buy-up’ the chain leading to greater demand for the larger, higher-value homes.” Other Eastern European countries appear to be following suit, with the Bulgarian and Romanian markets also seeing long-term sustainable demand for new homes.
Contact: Brian Burgess
+48 (0)22 330 0634
bburgess@savills.pl