Central European housing famine

The residential market in Central and Eastern Europe has one common denominator: demand far exceeds supply. A home in the most EXCLUSIVE locations can reach mind-boggling prices, while the more popular areas are flattening outIn Poland, 16.3 pct more homes were built in 2007 compared with 2006, rising to around 116,000 units, according to data from the Central Office of Statistics (GUS). But this is nothing to be proud of, since the amount of housing people are seeking in Poland is estimated to be around 1.5 mln homes. GUS claims that the price of 1 sqm of utility space amounted to PLN 3,014 in the third quarter of 2007, but this mean figure does not reflect prices reached by residences in Poland’s largest cities. Warsaw registered a record-breaking PLN 38,000 in the ‘glass sail’ building at Złota 44 designed by Daniel Libeskind and developed by Orco Property Group. Data published by Rednet in November showed that the mean price for 1 sqm stood at PLN 8,673, while th