Thanks to the favourable economic situation, the sale results of luxury premises, both residences and apartments, continue to grow. Sales volumes and prices hit record values. The nominal price threshold, characterising the pool of luxury apartments, is on the level of one million zlotys. It is obvious that not every premium apartment costs that much; nevertheless, this is a reliable reflection of the statistics of premises from this segment. Analyses of the RynekPierwotny.pl website indicate that in 2017, 4,350 developer apartments were sold the cost of which was equal to or higher than one million zlotys. REAS advisory company has shown in its’ report that in the course of three quarters of 2017, 470 real properties were sold at prices starting at PLN 17,000 per square metre. In 2017, the industry was worth PLN 1.3 billion, according to the report of EY prepared for Tacit Investment. Experts claim that in the course of the last 2 - 3 years, sale of top apartments grew at least three times.
Good Investment
It is also worth noting that the apartments are a good investment with a high rate of return. A significant portion of expensive apartments is purchased by companies and private persons for rental. Rental investments make up approx. 70 - 80% of sold top properties, whereas the remaining part are purchases for own use.
Investing capital in a luxury apartment may be very profitable, as the analyses of world markets show that the value of properties may grow by approx. 100% in the course of a decade, which is also an effect of great interest among the most affluent investors.
Warsaw Still the Most Expensive
Data of “Poland Sotheby’s International Realty”, presented in the “Luxury Realty Map” report shows that a half of transactions of luxury apartments take place in Warsaw. The capital is followed by such cities as: Wrocław, the Tri-City, Kraków and Poznań. All of these cities generate 75% of sale of real properties with a value above PLN 1 million. The capital is the most expensive, as a minimum of PLN 15,000 is to be assigned per square metre of a premium apartment here. The highest prices are in renovated town-houses and new apartment buildings in Śródmieście, Stary Mokotów and in the vicinity of Łazienki Królewskie. High prices exceeding 25,000 per square metre are typical for Cosmopolitan at ul. Twarda, where 20 transactions of this type were recorded between 2016 and 2017. In Wrocław, Kraków and the Tri-City, the prices in top locations reach PLN 12,000 per square metre, whereas in Poznań approx. PLN 10,000.
Złota 44 in the Lead
REAS claims that between January and the end of September 2017, the future owners of apartments spent PLN 222 million. It is interesting to note that one-third of such funds was going to be assigned for purchase of apartments at Złota 44. The famous “Sail” also generated a lot of buzz on account of sale of a 240-metre penthouse apartment on one of the top floors of Złota 44; however, the transaction parameters are a secret. This was probably the most expensive apartment sold on the Polish primary market; the price per square metre might have even reached PLN 46,000.
Polish Luxury Compared to Other Countries
In Poland, it is possible to buy an apartment for one million zlotys, whereas in London, Paris or Milan, purchase of such property is related to the minimum cost of EUR 1 million. Sale statistics of domestic luxury apartments show that transactions in the form of several hundred properties a year is only a fraction of the volume in the above-listed European metropoleis. In comparison with New York's Manhattan, the Polish market of top properties may get significant inferiority complex. Last year's Sotheby's report presented data in line with which in 2017, 11,000 luxury apartments were purchased in Manhattan. The prices of such American properties started at USD 4 million.