Since the start of 2024, there has been a slight recovery in the Bratislava market of new residential buildings. According to Bencont's report for Q1 2024, 285 apartments have been sold.
The price of apartments rose slightly due to new supply and reached €4,866 per sqm including VAT. As the new offer replaced the sold flats the total number of new buildings offered remained unchanged at the level of 3260 units in new buildings within 88 projects. The total supply of new apartments has not changed in the last year and a half.
Compared to the end of 2023, prices increased by 3%, mainly due to the structure of the new offer in the higher segment and a more premium location. The addition of more expensive apartments and apartments in the higher segment also contributed to a significant increase in the average absolute price of apartments. It even increased year-on-year by 11% to the current €329,200 including VAT. The majority of the existing projects did not change the price, so the price stagnation has been going on for two years. Compared to the previous quarter, the average area increased only slightly by 0.5% and reached 63.57 sqm.
The sale of new buildings at the beginning of 2024 saw a revival when, after low sales of up to 200 apartments per quarter on average last year, 285 apartments were sold in the first quarter of 2024. However, it is still impossible to talk about a fundamental turnover, especially because at the beginning of 2022, 556 apartments were sold per quarter, and in 2021, the sales average was 700 per quarter.
The demand for residential real estate continues to be fundamentally limited by financing options represented by the increased interest rate, which was one of the most significant factors in the decline in demand for apartments. Today, however, interest rates have stabilised and the slowing inflation, which is already contributing to the growth of real wages, continues to favour demand.
Since the beginning of 2022, the average unit price of new residential buildings in Bratislava has increased by almost 12%. Inflation for the same period was 17.2%. The real value of new Bratislava buildings has decreased in the last two years.
Developers have reacted to the decrease in apartment sales by limiting and slowing down the construction of new stages, and new apartments are being put on sale only gradually. On the other hand, over the past two years, the deferred demand that will be interested in the added apartments has accumulated. In 2024, Bencont expects a gradual revival of apartment sales, while the price will react to the equalising supply and demand with persistent stagnation.
