Real estate in poland - how an average Pole can afford such prices?

poland has silly rules regarding real estate.

In oz land if you have no conscience you become a real estate salesman.. I carn't understand that in poland real estate agents can act on on behalf of the seller and the purchaser (what about conflict of interest)????

not different that anywhere else- except some law requirements in Poland ( ownership dees, notary contacts...).

According to the media, in US, sales of existing homes have fallen as much as 4%.

Are home sales and prices declining in Poland? Will sales and prices fall and when?
What is your opinion?

I follow housing trends in oz, but can only make the following observations

When you say housing falls by 4% it doesn't mean all homes fall that much, properties in prime locations will either remain the same or increase, I'm not an oxford scholar but if you bought in central Krakow or near old town warsaw you will never go wrong

The point to remember is real estate goes through a cycle (ups and downs) and it depends what point you are buying if it will be a good investment.

If you want my opinion the polish real estate market has not been fully tested and there is a lot of the hysteria about prices.. I think prices are being propped up by real estate agent and investors.. (I'm not saying some homes are not worth what they are)

For a person wanting to buy a house to live (not an investment) anytime is a good time to start. (it beats paying rent)

Income and Wages determine the price of homes in most countries.(poland has low income)

The wild card in all this (and I wouldn't mind wujeks opinion on this) is the price of shares in quality companies, if they were to boom, if that was the case most investors will opt for buying shares, and in times of recession they will put money in the bank and get good interest.

One thing also is the polish government will want to get its cut in the form of a capital gains tax and associated fees..mmmmm

One thing I am sure is the homes in the country area will remain stable... (although a heard a commentary from a bank chief who stated that homes in poland would fall by 50%) who knows.. Keep in mind what happened in Japan in the 70/80's

I've been tempted in buying a house in poland (a lot of fors and against) if I did buy I would buy a period home and do it up


I've actually have visited zamosc, yeah it is nice......whats the price of a nice home in zamosc?

a huge manision near the place i lived 200.000zl.(10 rooms 8 km from zamosc)
2 bed flat in zamosc-400000zl
3bedflat-60.000zl
4 bed flat 80.000 zl
this may have change slightly since may(last time i have been in PL)
1$=3zl

Income and Wages determine the price of homes in most countries.(poland has low income)

Did anyone compared- average incone and property price in Poland, England....Australia.

I think that English house prices are very high comparing to average income? I am not so sure if it is much difference that in Poland.

You would need to find a similiar type of location in each country and the income earned from that person in that area. any other suggestions?


Thats pretty cheap, I must investigate, thanks for the info.....where will you be buying?

capitols?

I meant to ask you if you were going to buy the whole town of zamosc?:) when you return from the UK....

what is your definition of a mansion? is it another word for a house?

O'K lets give it a go.....a place in poland, and average wages.. followed by a average price of a house...not flat or apartment....

Now i'm in Poland, I had a chnace to go round to some mortgage 'middlemen'. Apparently they have special rules/allowances for teachers insofar that they only have to be working for 3 months and then they can get a mortgage. This is excellent news as since a lot of lending is done on credit history naturally, having just emmigrated from the UK I've none.

Roll on the new year - I'm buying me a flat!

ok i am not sure about waRSAW BUT IN ZAMOSC(70THOUSANDS citizens) the average wages 1500zl/month(500$) the cost of a 2 bedroom flat 40.000/45.000zl(12.000/15.000$)

So Krakow seems to be so expensive.

But I suppose to do these comparisons correctly we should compare similar properties in similar locations.
In Krakow I think 2 bedroom flat ( in our polish description 3 rooms ) can vary from about 150 000- 300 000- I am not so sure But it depends on locations and if it sit old or new property. Again Which town in Australia or England can we compare to Krakow or Zamosc?

In England prices drop going north from London but again I suppose big towns like Manchester, Newcastle...are still quite expensive.

What is so special about Zamosc?
Where is it located? I do not have a map of Poland hand.

south eastern poland.go to google to fing out

According to: bh.org.il/Communities/Archive/Zamosc.asp

Poles, Armenians, Greeks, Italians, Hungarians, Scots and Jews, Catholics and non-Catholics settled in the town of Zamosc, in the 15th and 16th century.

Zamosc sounds like an interesting town.

Rafik, are you sure about the prices of 2 bedroom fats in Zamosc.
In Poland, I lived in a town, population about of 50,000 people, and price of a 2 bedroom flat is between 120-150,000 zloty, $40,000 to $50,000.

yes my girlfriends aunt has bought a 3 bed flat in may this year for 60.000zl.

wow! that is cheap.

But you need to realize that a "3-bed flat" in Poland versus "3-bed flat" in the US (for example) - that's a huge difference. An average room in Poland is usually 30-40% SMALLER than an average room in the US (or other Western countries). So be smart when comparing flats or houses based only on "room count".

Chek,
You are correct, I am aware of it.

3 bed flat in poland it's 55-60 square metres-how about th US?

Depends on how many bathrooms? In the US a 3-bed flat has at least 1.5 bathroom (standard in new buildings is 2)..

one and a half loo?:)it is just one bathroom and one kitchen

FYI - I've just moved from a 2-bedroom apartment (NOTE: by 2-bedroom I mean: 2 bedrooms + living room+ 1.5 bathrooms). It was builit in 1968. Total: 1,100 square feets which is 102+ square meters. So again - you cannot compare houses/apartments in Poland vs other countries...

Correction: (NOTE: by 2-bedroom I mean: 2 bedrooms + living room+ kitchen+ 1.5 bathrooms).


Yes, it's as normal phrase in the US as "thank you". 1.5 means: 1 full bathroom (toilet+shower) + half-bathroom (toilet only OR toilet and bathtub without shower).

this would be a 3 bed flat in poland

US can afford it.. Poland will be there some day too :) - you need to start from the basics though, like building good and wide roads.

how much is it then?

It's hard to generize here too - as you know, LOCATION in real estate has much more value than the home itself (you can build a house without problems, but you cannot change the location). The one I had had pretty good location - about 20 miles from Chicago downtown, good neighbourhood, easy access to shopping centers and main roads/highways, 20 minutes from O'hare airport. I sold it for $182K. I think I could get about 5K-10K more - but I didn't because there was an ongoing lawsuit started by the homeowners association agains the former builder which scared away some potential buyers. Also, the real estate market in the US is currently very low... High interest rates don't motivate to buy new properties + the prices for building materials have increased recently. But the boom will come back some day - I think in a couple of years or so.

In the US, average house is about 1500 square feet, 3 bedrooms 2 baths.
1500 square feet is about 140 square meters.

They also have kitchens.

they are huge then

I suppose USA is big so there is more room for bigger houses. I guess coparing to Europe land is cheaper. Maybe except places like NY?

I have family in USA and they have big house but in not very good area and she started comparing her house to mine small but in quite nice era. There is no point.

In USA, England.... praice is mainly location,location......

is it the so strong in Poland? I mean cheap and expensive areas within town? I suppose a little in Krakow Srodmiescie, krowodrza are expesnsive, Nowa Huta is getting less popular.