poland_
7 Jul 2012 / #1171
Homes are still selling- there is still residential construction--this can't be disputed.
Pip, there are still homes selling in Poland, there were also apartments/houses selling in the USA during peak of the real estate crash 2008-2009. Real estate/land will also will always sell dependent on price. The main problem with Polish real estate circa 2012 is liquidity, Warsaw or any of Poland's main cities can not be compared to the UK, Canada or Austraila, although it has the possibility in the future to go further south.
With regards to the sales dropping- also a result of the mass purchases of 2007-2009. Poles tend to buy a home and live in it forever- and then they give it to a relative. The housing ladder doesn't apply here.
Three points here Pip,
1. In the 80's and 90's Poles built their own homes to house two or three generations. There were many Poles who had worked in the UK or USA bringing money back and flipping apartments before they had been built as there was a shortage of new build before 2,000.
2. With the introduction of easy money in 2004/5 onwards in Warsaw it was easy to buy as long as you had a decent job, most professionals either bought 1,2,3 or 4 apartments with the intention of reselling or renting.
3.The older generation built homes to live in long term, the younger generation firmly got themselves on the resale ladder. I would estimate that at least 85% of the people I know in Warsaw have at least three properties ( houses or apartments) many without mortgages, although they are asset rich, they are cash poor, as they are not prepared to sell for less that what they believe the property is worth, so they will sit and wait.