Real Estate /
Thinking of buying an offplan Luxury Property Wroclaw [79]
Hi Sambud
I would agree with Vndunne, the Wroclaw economy is very dynamic and the mayor has marketed Wroclaw and its location very effectively to foreign investors, compared to other polish cities it is easier to do business with a lot less bureacacy.
However I understand your concern obviously Frankfurt is the Financial Services Powerhouse of Germany so you are right it is concerning that you can find high end developments for sale at less then what they are selling for in Wroclaw. However in terms of the culture and psyche there is a huge difference between Poland and Germany. Home ownership in Germany runs at about 40% with most of the population renting for significant periods of their life, however in Poland home ownership and the desire to own property is a lot stronger with most of the population aspiring to own property and when they do there is also a stronger desire to trade up when they can afford to.
There are a number of large investors committed to the Wroclaw market. LC Corp which is run by Polish billionaire Leszek Czarnecki whose hometown is Wroclaw is investing $400 million in the Sky Tower development in Wroclaw in ul Postancow Slaskich and has also developed Arkady Wroclawskie the recently completed shopping centre and office space. Verity Developments have also got a significant number of high end developments in the pipeline for Wroclaw. In my experience MGPA Real Estate (one of the investors in Angel Wings) would not invest in Wroclaw to this extent without a significant amount of analysis and due diligence, I work for RREEF in the UK and am familiar with the extensive research that investment banks and PE firms carry out before making an investment decision.
I also think that entreprenurial spirit is significant, most of my husbands (who is polish and from Wroclaw) friends who live in Wroclaw have already started their own businesses or have business ideas in the pipeline. The profile of these individuals are well educated with degrees who have worked for large organisations etc and now want to start something up for themselves. I think this is also stronger then what you would find in Germany.
If you do decide to invest in Angel Wings or another high end development in Wroclaw I do think that it would have to be for the medium to long term (5 - 10 yrs) rather then the immediate short term.
From a personal perspective, I plan to relocate permanently at the end of the year with my husband to Wroclaw from London as I'm attracted to the dynamic environment and business opportunities within the city and region. We have invested in real estate over the last seven years in Wroclaw and the returns have been significant, however I do think it is important to research the location and developer before you make a decision.
I would suggest that you have a look at the following sites: investmap.pl (in polish) but gives you an excellent overview of the Wroclaw market and development plans and gazetainwestor.com go to the archiwum section and have a read through the recent publications, a lot of the articles are in english and will give you a good overview of the economy and investment plans for Wroclaw.
Good Luck with whatever decision you make
S