Housing prices in Poland were 18% higher than a year earlier in the first quarter of 2024, which was the largest figure in the European Union for the second successive quarter, new Eurostat figures showed.
Poland was followed by Bulgaria and Lithuania, which saw increases of 16% and 9.9% respectively. At the other end of the scale, Luxembourg (-10.9%), Germany (-5.7%) and France (-4.8%) saw the largest falls in prices. Across the EU as a whole, prices were up by 1.3%.
Poland’s latest figure marked an acceleration from the final quarter of 2023, when it saw an annual rise of 13%, which was also the highest figure in the EU. In the third quarter of 2023, its rise of 9.3% was the second highest in the bloc.
In the first quarter of this year, housing prices in Poland were up 4.3% compared to the previous quarter, which was the third-highest rate in the EU, behind Bulgaria (7.1%) and Hungary (5.1%).
Across the EU as a whole, prices rose by 0.4% between the fourth quarter of 2023 and first quarter 2024, with the largest drops in Denmark (-2.5%), France (-2.1%) and Slovakia (-1.7%).
Housing price growth in Poland was last year bolstered by the popular “Safe Credit” mortgage subsidy programme for first-time buyers introduced under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government in July.
As the scheme was nearing its end in late 2023, Poland saw a record number of mortgage applications in December, while in January mortgage lending exceeded 10 billion zloty (EUR 2.3 billion) for the first time in history as the contracts eligible for the programme were finalised.
Prices have also been pushed up by a housing shortage in Poland, with some estimates pointing to a shortfall of as many as 4 million units. That has made entering the market difficult for young Poles, over half of whom, according to Eurostat, live with their parents, one of the highest figures in the EU.
A large influx of refugees from Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in 2022 has also put pressure on Poland’s housing market. (Notes from Poland)