Most often, refugees seek housing in Krakow, Lodz and Warsaw
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, almost 3 million people entered Poland. Most of them stayed in this country. Since many of them are looking for a place for temporary or long-term residence, the demand for rental apartments has increased dramatically in large Polish cities, reports the Chronicle.info with reference to RBC-Ukraine.
« to an even greater increase in already record high rental prices driven by inflation and high energy bills,» write on the website.
According to the Gethome real estate service, during the first month of the war, the number of apartments available for rent in Warsaw, Gdansk and Poznan decreased by 34-40%. In Krakow, Wroclaw and Lodz, their number decreased by more than 60%.
Federika Krepaz, who moved to Gdansk from Italy for work in February, spent the first weeks in a filmed using the service Airbnb apartment and is now looking for a room for a long time.
«After I made an appointment to visit one of them, some landlords told me a few hours later that it was already rented out. I had a feeling that if I find any room, I will have to take it immediately», the woman says.
Demand for renting apartments has increased 3-4 times
Her colleagues had similar problems. According to Federica, finding a separate apartment was even more difficult than finding a room in a shared apartment.
Approximately two weeks after the start of the war, the number of ad views on Otodom, another popular real estate service in Poland, increased by 166%.
«With the start of the war, we could see an increase in the number of responses to rental ads . They were three to four times higher than at the end of February. This reflects the urgent need for refugees arriving in Poland to find a roof over their heads», Karolina Klimaszewska of Otodom.
The surge in demand has affected rental prices: in Otodom, the average monthly price of apartments increased by 5% from PLN 2,721 in February to PLN 2,863 in March. In Warsaw and Wroclaw, the averages rose by 7% and 8.6% respectively.
Real estate prices are rising in big cities in Poland
The surge in demand makes finding an apartment especially difficult for those on a tight budget. There is even a risk of a return to the situation 15 years ago, when the owners conducted «castings» for tenants, and universities in Krakow appealed to landlords to rent out housing to students «at fair prices», says Gethome analyst Marek Velgo.
The situation also had a negative impact not only on the quantity, but also on the quality of apartments offered for rent.
«The practice of dividing an apartment into small parts for renting out separately has already become common and may become even more common in the future&# 187;, says the expert.
Students who usually leave apartments for the summer to go on vacation can now decide to keep their housing because they it might be hard to find a new one when they return in September, Klimaszewska adds. This may lead to a decrease in the supply on the market and an increase in prices.
According to real estate company Morizon, property prices in Warsaw rose by about 10% over the year, reaching an average of PLN 13,254 (€2,860) per square meter in February. Gdansk, Krakow, Lodz, Wroclaw and Poznan also showed double-digit growth. The highest (20.5%) was recorded in Gdansk, where average prices reached PLN 12,166 (EUR 2,620) per square meter.
However, demand has begun to slow recently after the central bank began raising interest rates for the first time in a decade last year in response to inflation and a weakening currency. Because of this, those who bought to buy an apartment may postpone such a decision indefinitely.
« market», explained Notes from Poland Agnieszka Mikulska, market expert at real estate company CBRE.
Worker shortage: Ukrainians go to defend their country < p>Polish developers are also facing ever-increasing prices for building materials. According to PSB, Poland's largest network of building materials wholesalers, in March they were on average 30% higher than a year ago.
As construction costs become increasingly difficult to estimate, current and new investments are being postponed.< /p>
Meanwhile, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, there have been reports of a shortage of personnel in the Polish construction, manufacturing and transport sectors, where many Ukrainian men previously worked. The profile association complained that there is a shortage of workers in Poland. Most of these jobs were occupied by Ukrainians. They noted that many of them defend their country, and it is difficult to find new specialists.
Rising prices for land, materials and construction led to an increase in housing costs even in the face of a slowdown in demand.
«We are witnessing such a dynamic growth in construction costs that a significant reduction in average prices seems impossible in the near future. Rather, we should expect their further increase «, says Mikulskaya.