Each year Poles buy more flats and houses abroad. Such purchases are not only investments – more and more flats are bought and treated as “second homes”. Market analysts claim that the market is gaining in value by as much as a few percent per year. Most popular locations include Spain, Bulgaria and Croatia.

Clients investing in flats abroad can be roughly divided into two groups: one of them being relatively young people who – working for large companies for several years – have already earned small fortunes and want to invest them profitably. While buying flats in any of Europe’s „emerging countries” they hope the properties will gain in value quickly and then they can sell them with profit. On the other hand, selecting more exotic countries for investing their capital, clients from Poland buy themselves homes where can they stay for a few weeks each year and for the remaining part of the year the homes are rented to earn their maintenance. Another and relatively new group of clients of real estate agencies are wealthy middle aged Poles who intend to settle down abroad after retiring. They tend to choose places away from noisy holiday destinations, but are interested in larger houses and flats, which are more comfortable, better equipped and suitable for all-year-round use.

For quite a while now the Iberian Peninsula has been one of the Poles’ favourite holiday destinations, tempting with friendly climate and a similar attitude towards foreigners. Although generally cheaper than the rest of Old Europe, the country of corrida is, however, not friendly to all buyers – in case of purchasing a 60-metre flat away from the sea one must consider the expenditure of at least EUR 100 thousand, whereas a similar flat with an attractive location and fit-out would cost ca. EUR 250 thousand. The Spanish are really open towards foreign capital because their residential boom resulted in high oversupply, making developers actively seek new sale markets and encouraging them to make significant concessions (also in terms of price) in order to sell their products.

More and more Poles begin to appreciate the offer of Balkan countries. Properties purchased in Bulgaria are still treated mainly as investments expected to bring significant profits within a short time thanks to dynamic market growth. Offers from the primary market dominate, the most popular ones include medium-sized flats in the Black Sea coast strip (ca. EUR 30-40 thousand) and in Sophia (EUR 40-60 thousand). However, it ought to be emphasised that a few Polish agents have already withdrawn from representing Balkan developers as the latter – to put it mildly – were not treating their foreign partners in a very ethical manner.

Croatia is treated by clients from Poland in a similar manner – this market is developing quickly and money invested there may still bring enormous profits. It is estimated that Poles buy some 100-150 flats per year in Croatia. Yet the figures may be highly incorrect as there are no official statistics and all the data presented above refer only to transactions concluded by Polish agents. The agents themselves estimate they only handle 1/3 of international purchases, with the remaining transactions processed by foreign agencies or without any agents at all. To the agents’ worry, the latter method is becoming increasingly popular as Poles do not like to pay for agency while purchasing any kind of goods (this seems to be a national feature!) and they are becoming increasingly experienced in international transactions, which makes services of specialised agencies redundant to them.

Most exotic offers, whose number on the market is increasing, are addressed to strict financial elites. Prices can make the head spin, although they are not usually discussed in public as they are only received by selected clients. Polish agents tempt with suites in Kuala Lumpur or Dubai. It will soon turn out how Polish clients will react to properties in Switzerland or in the Caribbean, which are now being launched, as well as to more affordable ones in Montenegro. We do know, however, that Poland is becoming increasingly attractive to developers from countries where demand does not match supply. One can be certain that with its increasingly wealthy citizens and stronger middle class, Poland will now be more intensively explored by developers from more exotic parts of the world.