GUS Poland reports 22.7% drop in new residential buildings in H1 2024

According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the number of new residential buildings completed in the first half of 2024 totaled 42,200, marking a significant 22.7% decrease compared to the same period last year. Single-family homes dominated the sector, comprising 97.3% of all new buildings and nearly half of all newly constructed dwellings.

The majority of residential buildings (98.1%) employed traditional improved insertion technology. Two-storey homes were the most common, accounting for 62.3% of the new buildings and 32.7% of the total new dwellings. Single-storey homes followed with 32.1% of new buildings and 14.7% of the new dwellings. Buildings with three or more storeys made up 5.6% of new constructions but contained 52.6% of all new dwellings.

In terms of construction contributors, developers were responsible for 61.4% of newly completed flats, while private investors contributed 36.2%. This marks a shift from the previous year, with an increase of 3.7 percentage points in flats built for sale or rent and a decrease of 4.5 percentage points in those constructed by individual investors.

Facility provision for new dwellings included:

• Mains water supply: 94.5%
• Sewerage with discharge to the network: 79.7%
• Mains gas: 34.2%
• Hot water from combined heat and power plants, district heating, or boiler houses: 37.3%
• Central heating network: 37.3%

The average construction time for new residential buildings in H1 2024 was 44 months, with multi-family buildings taking nearly twice as long to complete as single-family homes.

The GUS also revealed that 95,600 dwellings were finished in the first half of the year, totaling 8.6 million square meters of usable floor area and 361,800 rooms. This represents a decline from the previous year, with a 14.5% decrease in the number of dwellings, a 17.9% drop in usable floor area, and a 17.5% reduction in the number of rooms.

The average floor area of newly completed dwellings was 90.2 square meters, down from 93.9 square meters in H1 2023. Single-family homes averaged 131.9 square meters, while multi-family units averaged 51.9 square meters.

Regionally, the highest number of new dwellings were constructed in Mazowieckie (18.1% of the national total) and Małopolskie (10.4%). The housing construction intensity index, which measures the number of completed dwellings per 1,000 inhabitants, was highest in Pomorskie (3.5), Podlaskie (3.2), and Mazowieckie (3.1). The lowest indices were recorded in Opolskie (1.3), Warmińsko-Mazurskie (1.8), and Śląskie (1.9).

Source: GUS and ISBnews