POLAND The figures for apartment sales in the first half and second quarter of the year have been giving the residential market much to be cheerful about. The winding down of the government’s Apartments for the Young programme and some forecasts of a possible economic slowdown have clearly failed to put developers off their stride, as they break more sales records and set themselves even more ambitious goals for the entire year. We took a closer look at some of the data published by the largest players on the residential market.
Tight at the top
Robyg proved to be the greatest record-breaker of H1 2017 (just as it was for the whole of last year). The company sold 1,693 apartments in Warsaw and Gdańsk (net – including cancellations), which represented a 23 pct y-o-y increase. The group estimates that this year it will finalise around 3,300 contracts if this trend continues. In Q2 alone, the developer sold 756 apartments in Warsaw and Gdańsk (including cancellations), which is almost 17 pct more than in the same period of 2016. Just one step behind is Dom Development, which sold 1,656 apartments (1,316 in 2016, a 26 pct increase y-o-y). In the second quarter the developer sold a record-breaking 850 apartments, 21 pct up y-o-y. “The demand was also supported by low interest rates, low unemployment and the ready availability of mortgages. As in previous quarters, apartments sold for cash represented a large part of the sales volume – around 40 pct of the sales,” points out Jarosław Szanajca, the CEO of Dom Development. Murapol also made it to the podium with 1,609 sold, up 24 pct y-o-y. In Q2 the developer signed 795 contracts (compared to 593 in Q2 2016). Murapol believes it will close the year with 4,000 apartments sold. “Over the period, around 60 pct of our sales were in the three major cities where we operate. In H2 we intend to put apartments up for sale in projects in other cities,” announces Michał Sapota, the CEO of Murapol.
Well over 1,000 apartments were also sold by Atal. The company signed contracts for 1,364 units, rise of almost 16 pct y-o-y. In Q2, 690 apartments were sold. “In Q1 2017 we managed to generate a gross margin on sales of 28.67 pct – a figure beyond the reach of other WSE-listed property developers,” boasts Mateusz Juroszek, the vice-president of Atal. The company predicts that it will sign between 2,700 and 2,900 contracts over the whole of this year.
Smaller players also beating their bests
The second tier of residential developers is led by Dantex, which sold 619 apartments in H1 and 386 apartments in Q2. The Q2 figure signifies a 60 pct y-o-y growth in sales. “In the months to come we are going to focus on developing further stages of our existing projects,” reveals Marek Roefler, the CEO of Dantex. Echo Investment was not far behind. The company sold 554 apartments, up by 80 pct y-o-y (in H1 2016, the developer signed 309 sales contracts). “The sales in the last few quarters show that in 2–3 years’ time we will be able to reach our strategic goal of becoming a dominant player on the residential market,” asserts Nicklas Lindberg, the CEO of Echo Investment.
Ronson Development, on the other hand, sold 180 apartments in Q2 2017, up 15 pct y-o-y, and 439 units in H1, amounting to an annual increase of 21 pct. Just one apartment shy of that figure was Lokum Deweloper, which sold 438 apartments in H1, up by 42 pct y-o-y. An even more spectacular increase was recorded by Wrocław-based residential developer Archicom, which signed 341 notarial deeds in H1, a y-o-y increase of 191.5 pct. A total of 235 apartments were sold in Q2 – 5.4 pct more than a year ago, when 223 units were sold. Archicom sold 601 apartments (gross) in H1 and is aiming to sell another 600 in H2. “We have already achieved half of our sales target of 1,200 apartments for this year and so have surpassed our figure for the same period of 2016 by 37 pct,” claims Dorota Jarodzka-Śródka, the CEO of Archicom.
Polnord is another developer that has been able to boast excellent H1 sales figures. The company sold 317 apartments (net) weighted according to their share in various companies of Polnord Group – a figure 17 pct higher than for H1 last year. Companies 100 pct owned by Polnord sold 239 apartments in Q2 2016 (compared to 203 sold in Q2 2016). In 2017 the company is aiming to put on sale 1,450 apartments and to sell app. 1,250.
