Could you tell us which location, the size of the apartment, whether it is off plan or secondary market?
as a general rule of thumb, expect the prices in Lodz to grow to similar prices as in the Tri City area. Unlikely that they will get as high as Warsaw or Krakow
Hi I live in Ranbien 5 mins from Lodz and paid 590,000 pln for my 200 sqm house 1 year ago with twin garage and a very small bit of land.Does this help.
Look at website rednetproperty.pl click English version and go to market analysis. They calculate the average price of 6285 per m2 at 31 December 2007. Prices rose 41% in 2007. They forecast a 5% drop in prices there in 2008 as the average income in Lodz is too low and the average worker cannot afford that price.
gratka.pl/dom/deweloperzy-nowe-mieszkania/lista/,lodz,1,1,m1,cw,cmw,od.htm look here, and compare it with that flat. Of course 7000 isn't cheap, but it depends on standard.
"Investing" 7000 per sqm doesn't sound right. The prices are going down as nobody is buying, credits are blocked at the moment - I had credit ability of 150 000 EUR before the crisis and now the bank reduced it to 50 000. Why don't you buy a well-renewed old flat in a fin de ciecle building, either near Manufactura or the Central Station (Dworzec Fabryczny) which is a pretty run down state now but is going to much better within the next 10 years, with the city planning "upward mobility" for this district and Lodz going to become a suburb of Warsaw soon - trains to Warsaw (1,5 hrs) leave from this station, and this is a normal commuting time in Poland. You should be careful though - the house should be fully owned or ruled (this is not the same) by the inhabitants - that means that they should have the majority of votes in matters of renovation funding , otherwise the house which is in a poor state now will look no better in 10 years. Normally, all inhabitants pay some small amount of money every month (at max. 2 zl/0,50 EUR per sqm) from which renovations of the building (facade, yard, staircase etc.) are paid one by one as the years go by, and the city pays its share if there are any communal flats left in the building, but they should be a minority (if the city has the major share, they can decide whether and what to renovate; too bad ...).
You can also buy from a private hand, if you are interested I can give you a hot tip (I wanted to buy a flat there myself, the building is in a top form and very close to Manufactura, cost: 4000 zl/sqm, the only disadvantage being a high cost of heating - electric CH, but this is outbalanced by no renovation cost in many years to come because the building has been completely renewed. I will not buy a flat there, though, because I wouldn't get enough credit now - and because I am going back home - "distance renting" is too much trouble.
You can contact me at hanna.pulaczewska@sprachlit.uni-regensburg.de if you need info.
