According to Dziennik (Polish Daily Newspaper) the greatest growth in apartment prices in 2007 will be in Poznan and Lodz - whereas the prediction for Katowice is "insignificant" Here's the article from Warsaw Voice: January 10, 2007 As the Polish real estate market continues to flourish, housing prices are growing not only in Warsaw, but also in other cities. According to a report in Dziennik daily, the greatest increases in apartment prices in 2007 are expected in Pozna?d £? at roughly 40 percent in both cases. The growth on the Warsaw market should not exceed 15 percent, yet the average price here already exceeds zl.7,000 per square meter. This is apparently too much for many customers with medium incomes, Dziennik comments. Market insiders expect only an insignificant increase in prices in Upper Silesia where few luxury apartment houses are being built. Premium residences are the main factor behind price hikes in all segments of the real estate market, according to Dziennik. In cities such as Szczecin and Rzesz?price growth should not exceed 10 percent. The current boom on the real estate market is likely to continue over the next few years, the daily concludes.

IBK I have been looking hard at Wroclaw but everything there seems to be going for 7-10,000zl m/2 (around the center anyway)and PS seemed to have no deals there anyway. I would like to invest in Poland and on reading your post above and the deals that PS have coming up then did I ought to be looking at the likes of Poznan and Lodz, have you bought there ? My other concern is the rental market, is there sufficient demand ther to fill all these cheap apartments being built, capital gains may be could but if I have to cover the mortgage each month and have no tenant then is this such a great deal.

Rob, Have just bought my first investment apartment and am still learning myself so not in the best position to be advising others! I bought in Katowice and am still hoping it will prove to be a good investment. I'm in it for the long term so hopefully things will pick up in Silesia over time. Katowice is going to have a lot of money spent on regeneration of town (Rynek area) and there is a lot of potential there i think. The city attracts lots of business investment and has good road networks and many universities. I try to keep myself informed as to what's going on- i read these websites: http: / /www .warsawvoice .http: / /www .um .katowice .pl /en /com/ I've read a bit about Poznan and Lodz. The Cotton Mill development looked excellent. I guess you just have to keep reading, and asking the experts opinions, and try to decide where you are happiest to invest. I'm hoping my apartment will rent out easily. There doesn't seem to be many nice new apartments near Katowice and the city does attract a lot of business so hopefully it won't be a problem. I'm keeping money aside in case though- being new to this! I bought through PS and so far it's been a simple process and i'm happy. Hope you find somehwhere soon- don't wait too long :-)

Rob, this may interest you: www.warsawvoice.com How Much for an Apartment? 2006-11-08 Real estate in Silesia is not as expensive as in Warsaw, Wroc³aw, Cracow, Pozna? the Gda?Sopot-Gdynia Tricity. Although prices are growing steadily, an apartment, house or land bought in the Silesia province is still a profitable investment. New homes It is possible to buy a home in a row house near Katowice for zl.1,800 to zl.3,000 per square meter-if you are lucky, because supply is not keeping up with demand. This particularly applies to newly built apartments and houses. The amount of new homes is too small compared to customers. As a result, most are sold instantly, even well before they are finished. Small housing complexes built by developers with unfinished apartments enjoy the greatest popularity. Their prices are relatively low, ranging from zl.180,000 to zl.250,000 per 100 sq m. The buyers have to carry out remaining work like plastering, installing fittings, finishing floors and so on themselves. This can double the cost of the apartment. Wealthy clients tend to prefer homes in luxury apartment buildings. The largest projects of this kind currently under construction are D?we Tarasy close to Silesia City Center in Katowice and Planty Œl¹skie in Chorz?The two complexes are being advertised as the most luxury housing projects in Silesia. Despite that, the price per square meter in D?we Tarasy ranges from zl.2,900 to zl.3,900 and is still much lower than prices of homes in similar buildings in Warsaw, Sopot, Cracow and Wroc³aw. The price per square meter in one of the new housing development projects now implemented in Tychy is similar-zl.3,100. It comes as no surprise that projects of this kind are attracting the interest of both Polish and foreign investors. As is the case in other parts of Poland, foreign investors have recently intensified their expansion onto the Silesian real estate market. They are buying apartments and homes as well as office space and commercial plots. Analysts of the real estate market agree that foreigners are treating the Silesian market as a long-term investment opportunity and are urgently looking to invest their money here. Among the prospective real estate buyers are not only German, Dutch and British people but also Poles living abroad. Older properties Due to insufficient supply on the market of new buildings, interest in older homes is on the rise. Prices on this market increasingly compete with those on the new-property market. In many cases, the price per square meter in buildings older than 10 years, located in a city center or in a good neighborhood, are higher than the prices of newly built row houses. Also relatively high are the prices of older apartments and brick houses situated on large plots of land. These are nearly twice as high as prices of apartments in buildings made of prefabricated concrete. A new trend on the older-property market is the sale of completely furnished apartments. The sellers are moving to new houses in the suburbs or to larger, more comfortable apartments in luxury apartment buildings and do not want to take anything from their old places. The price of such apartments is higher than zl.3,000 per square meter. In practice, it is possible to exchange an old but well furnished apartment of 80 sq m for a new larger apartment or a detached house that needs renovating. The supply of such older houses is considerable. Homes in the Katowice region are typically not in the best condition. Not many homes have been built here in recent years and a major part of the apartments and houses offered for sale are several decades old and usually of a low standard. In many cases, the price of a one-story house with a 1,000-sq-m plot of land ranges from zl.140,000 to zl.200,000, even in the capital of the province. The main factor that determines the price on the older-homes market is the property's condition, although location is increasingly important. Price differentials are greater in the case of apartments than homes. The difference in price for similar apartments can be as much as 100 percent, depending on whether it is located in Œwi?ch³owice, Bytom, Katowice, Gliwice or Tychy. In the case of houses, the technical condition and attractiveness of the building itself are more important than its location. For rent Price movements seem to be less pronounced on the rental market. The reason for this is that the supply of homes is on the rise. The apartments and houses that are available for rent are owned by people who invested in residential properties in the past and now own two or more homes. Small apartments with one or two rooms are especially sought after. They are rented by foreigners working in Poland, students and young business people on relatively high incomes who have not yet made enough money to buy their own apartments or houses. Apartments located close to a city center or in a neighborhood with good access to the center fetch the highest prices. Terasa Mrozi? Prices: Examples Houses D¹browa G?cza, center, 250 sq m -zl.250,000 Sosnowiec, in a row house, 180 sq m, unfinished-zl.290,000 Sosnowiec, 150 sq m, plot-1,000 sq m-zl.310,000 Katowice, good neighborhood, new-zl.495,000 Katowice, center, tenement house, 400 sq m-zl.400,000 Katowice Bryn?detached house, 260 sq m-zl.755,000 Tarnowskie G? new, comfortable, 210 sq m -zl.390,000 Tychy, with a swimming pool-zl.365,000 Wis³a, semi-detached house-zl.186,000 Zabrze, semi-detached house, unfinished, without windows or doors, 250 sq m-zl.150,000 Apartments Bytom, 3 rooms, 63 sq m-zl.60,000 Chorz?center , 44 sq m-zl.69,000 D¹browa G?cza, 29 sq m-zl.45,000 Katowice, 53 sq m, comfortable-zl.200,000 Katowice-Ligota, 2 rooms, renovated-zl.88,000 Katowice, 80 sq m, comfortable-zl.400,000 Sosnowiec, 63 sq m-zl.120,000 Sosnowiec, 35 sq m, requiring renovation-zl.45,000 Œwi?ch³owice, 63 sq m-zl.120,000 Zawiercie, 52 sq m, ground floor-zl.52,000

ibk Makes good reading, perhaps worth a look, have you been over there to look round yourself, is there much building going on. When does your property complete ? Rob

Completes this time next year , if it runs to schedule. Not been out yet, but will do later in the year.