The number of projects which entered the Warsaw residential market fell on a quarterly basis in the last three months of 2011, but the capital nevertheless continued to offer the highest number of total available residential projects among major Polish cities, according to a new report by real estate company Emmerson.

A total of 26 new investments were made available to buyers on Warsaw’s primary residential market in Q4 last year – five fewer than in Q3. A downward trend was also observed in Poznań and Gdańsk, while q/q growth of newly available residential projects was noted in Kraków, Łódź and Wrocław.

The report found that by the end of the fourth quarter there were close to 400 residential developments providing homes for sale in Warsaw. In Kraków, potential home buyers had close to 300 new housing developments to choose from, with almost 200 available in Wrocław.

In Q4, the largest investments in terms of number of units were found in Warsaw, where the average number of dwellings per new project stood at 135. In Gdańsk, the number was 116, in Wrocław and Poznań 92, and in Kraków 77.

While the number of new developments that entered the capital’s residential market dropped off in Q4, overall supply remains strong.

“Supply is record-breakingly high that should fuel downward pressure on prices in 2012, especially when we take into account the fact that there are no other factors, except price declines, which could stimulate demand this year,” Marcin Płaziński, an analyst at Emmerson, told Lokale Immobilia.

Moreover, despite the bloated supply, many developers are expected to hurry to launch projects in the first quarter of this year because on April 28, the Real Estate Purchaser Protection Act is due to be implemented. This is expected to increase the cost for the developer of building new housing stock.

Veronika Joy, Gareth Price