This year the Polish investment market has been dominated by two strong foreign players, coming from the UK and the Czech Republic. Investors from the latter country are increasingly and more generously placing capital in the Polish property market. The growth over the last two years has been impressive, comments Szymon Mojzesowicz, a Polish real estate market expert.
In the first half of this year, the commercial property market in Poland saw a serious increase in investment, reaching a record high of €1.76 billion in the second quarter. For the whole of 2023, it was €2.1 billion.
The return of Czech investors, among others, to the Polish market after a difficult 2023 is the result of falling interest rates and better economic sentiment. And this always motivates buyers to invest. In the first six months of this year, the bulk of capital - as much as 73 per cent - came from Europe. Investors from the UK (34 per cent) and the Czech Republic (18 per cent) played a dominant role here. In mid-2022, the share of Czech investors in the Polish real estate market accounted for 7.6%.
Certainly, the watershed moment was the time of the pandemic - 2020-2022. The supply of Czech real estate for sale at that time was very limited, so investors went abroad. Even at that time (rapid price increases), the Polish market attracted relatively affordable prices and attractive yields (up to 8 per cent).
Poland's economic stability has also been and continues to be, an important factor attracting the attention of Czech investors. Poland has shown resilience in difficult times, guaranteeing strong growth, which continues to make the country an attractive place to invest in real estate. A solid basis for investment opportunities is also provided by a very well-developed infrastructure, which is not the norm in our part of Europe.
Szymon Mojzesowicz has been involved in the Polish RE market for over 20 years. He is a member of the RICS - Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (UK) and a chartered surveyor in the specialisation of business and property valuation. Since 2002 he has been an advisor on commercial property values for Polish and international companies.