Crunching the figures

As the housing sector enters unfamiliar and more difficult territory, will the nature of project financing change? And what will the sector look like once the current financial crisis is over? Nathan North The halcyon days of two or three years ago, when finance was cheap and house prices were soaring now seem like a distant memory. Towards the end of last summer, the extent of the crisis on the US sub-primes market became apparent. As the stock markets took a pounding, banks began to batten down the hatches, imposing stricter conditions and increasing interest rates. Eric Dapoigny, managing director of Yareal Polska, recalls that: “I remember last year everyone was saying this is specific to the US market, with no impact on western Europe. But at the Mipim real estate fair recently, everyone was thinking differently – that 2007 was the last good year. In Poland it too will have an impact.” According to Michał Kubicki, the Polish partner of joint-venture develope