PRS Business Mixer

Today, we took part in another PRS Business Mixer organized by PZFD. The speakers delivered a solid dose of insights into current trends.

Among them were:

✔️ Patrick Pospiech – Director, Living Investments, JLL
✔️ Łukasz Wojcieszak – Founder and Managing Partner, Properto
✔️ Szymon Sarnowski – Head of PRS Delivery, Decoroom
✔️ Jakub Jamontt – Vice President of the Management Board, 3D Estate

photo: Greenfields

Right after the panel discussions and networking, the key takeaways and insights from the event were shared by Radosław Wąsak – Senior Manager, Living Sector, Land Real Estate Department:

🔸 The sentiment in the institutional rental segment is slowly recovering. After a relatively weak period in 2022–2023, we’re seeing a gradual return of investor interest. By December 2024, institutional investors held 20,000 units, and around 10,000 apartments are currently under construction.

🔸 We are witnessing strong development dynamics, even though institutional housing still represents a marginal portion of the overall rental stock in Poland - less than 1% - especially when compared to cities like Berlin, where rental housing exceeds 30%. In 2024 alone, nearly 30 new PRS projects were completed, adding over 5,900 units to the market, 16 of which were located in regional cities.

🔸 Most of the new projects were launched by existing PRS operators. The rental market is in good shape, rental prices have stabilized, and vacancy rates are at marginal levels. Interest in rental housing has increased in recent years due to rising interest rates (which significantly limited homebuyers' credit capacity), the influx of Ukrainian refugees, and a sharp increase in housing prices.

🔸 We are also seeing growing interest from investors in older office buildings with potential for conversion into studenthousing, residential apartments, or PRS units. A key advantage is often their central location, and repurposing existing buildings can frequently be more time-efficient than building new developments from scratch.