Briefs

Ober Haus report on Warsaw's residential market for first half of 2003

Real estate brokers Ober Haus have published a report entitled, "East European Residential Update, Spring/Summer 2003", which as well as for the markets in the Baltic States, has also produced findings from Warsaw.
The highlights of the report, include that as far as the Polish capital is concerned, lower interest rates, a mild recovery and the threat of increased VAT on real estate purchases, have stimulated property buying during the period. That the average price of an apartment in the city centre is currently EUR 1,600 per sqm, 10,000 units are expected to be completed in the city this year and that mortgage rates have decreased from 25 per cent four years ago, to under 7 per cent now, are other features of the study.

Decline in demand for luxury apartments

BOSS Business News Poland have reported a decline in the demand for luxury apartments in Poland, but also that this sector of the housing market is most resistant to economic instability, given its appeal to only very wealthy customers. The prices of these apartments are however falling, with one square metre averaging at around USD 1,500. Rents for luxury flats have also decreased and one can be had from USD 2,500 to USD 1,000 a month.

Vita Parc's second act

The second stage of construction work on Warsaw's Vita Parc housing estate has begun. Its developer, the German Viterra Development Polska, expects the complex to be completed in November 2004. Vita Parc was designed by JEMS Architekci, a firm selected in a competition organized by the developer. The general contractor is Z. Marciniak from Gorzów.
123 flats of 30 to 114 sqm are to be built as part of the scheme's second stage. A total of 235 families are to occupy the four-story houses in Vita Parc, and will pay a gross amount of PLN 3,300 p/sqm.

Budopol Wrocław to construct apartments in home town

Budopol Wrocław, a subsidiary of construction group Instalexport, is to construct a section of the Cztery Pory Roku residential district in Wrocław for EUR 4.2 mln. The deadline for the work is two years from August 1st 2003.