Rents are falling: in September the average rent in Poland was 2,676 zł, in Warsaw 4.8 thousand zł

According to an Otodom report, the average asking rent for a flat in Poland in September was 2,676 zł, 35 zł less than in August. In the voivodeship capitals rents are 1.3% below August levels, with declines recorded in 12 of 16 cities: the steepest in Kraków (−5.2%, though still above 3.1 thousand zł) and Kielce (−3.6%, about 2 thousand zł). The average rent in Warsaw is 4.8 thousand zł; slight increases were recorded in Bydgoszcz, Łódź, Opole and Szczecin. Two-room flats are the most in demand: in Warsaw they usually cost up to 3.5 thousand zł.

Supply is growing: 21.7 thousand new listings appeared on Otodom in September, and 27.3 thousand were available nationwide by the end of the month. Over the month the number of listings rose by 28% in Kielce, 19% in Lublin, 15% in Kraków and Wrocław, 24.8% in the Tricity and 41% in Sopot: after the holidays, flats are returning to the market from short-term rental, and an amendment passed by the Sejm will let homeowners' associations, cooperatives and municipalities ban daily rentals.

“Today rents are starting to fall,” says Otodom analyst Paweł Jarząbek; if supply stays at its current level, tenants will have more room to negotiate in the fourth quarter. Otodom economist Maciej Kietliński reminds landlords that one month without a tenant means losing about 8% of potential annual rental income.