Completed newbuild apartments are almost 10% cheaper than those under construction

The offer of newbuilds continues to expand, albeit only slightly. New projects come with higher quality.
The average price of new apartments is just below €4000 per sqm excl. VAT and is growing yearly.
The city quarter BA II reported the most apartments on offer, and also the strongest district in terms of sales of new apartments.
The sale of newbuild apartments has seen a 48 % decrease against a year earlier.
The cost of materials, labour and expensive financing are unlikely to fall in the near future, with no prospect of price reductions in newbuilds.

The slowdown in sales of new apartments is also affecting the offer of new residential projects. Developers are adopting a “wait-and-see” approach. Sales have dropped 48 % against a year earlier. These observations are taken from the Q3 2023 report* by Herrys real estate agency.

A total of 177 apartments in new residential projects were sold in Bratislava in the third quarter of 2023. The market is currently concentrated around 90 projects, with a total of 2939 apartments available. Nearly two thirds of the apartments under construction have already been sold. As a result of the slowdown in sales, the market saw an 11% increase in completed departments compared with the preceding quarter. The most significant share of unsold apartments are among 2+kk units, while the lowest figures of unsold units are in the more premium 4+kk category.

“Despite the decrease in size, the projects coming to market are of a higher quality, offering greater comfort, superior location, and more amenities”, explains Filip Žoldák, partner at Herrys real estate agency. “Large, publicised projects are on hold, awaiting kick-off.”

The slowdown is especially noticeable in the pace of sales of newbuilds. Out of the 90 projects currently active in Bratislava, only 23 are selling at a rate of more than 1 apartment per month. These projects make up almost 90 % of the 177 newbuild apartments sold in Q3 2023.

Across all Bratislava projects in Q3 2023, the top sellers were 2-room apartments, with the exception of the BA IV district, where 3-room apartments proved most popular.

The average sale price of apartments in Q3 2023 was €3967 per sqm excl. VAT, representing year-on-year growth of 2.5%. This change is mainly driven by the change in the BA III district, where the price has changed against the last year due mainly to new projects in the wider centre or in Koliba, including the price of projects started in Q2 2023.

The highest final average apartment sale prices were recorded in the BA I district, followed paradoxically by apartments in the BA IV district, due to high demand for larger units. The most affordable apartments were sold in the BA V district.

Based on the current sales rate and provided that use approval in individual projects are obtained within their deadline, Herrys projects approximately 1000 apartments to be available in completed projects over the course of next year.

“The new offer of apartments in newbuilds is set to shrink further, as the current interest rates are pushing potential buyers of new builds to focus on discounted offers or the cheapest projects. This trend is mirrored in the secondary market, which is seeing a boost in sales due to real wage growth, making the housing in this segment more affordable. Until the secondary market offer – qualitatively or quantitatively – drops down to a level motivating buyers towards buying apartments under construction, sales in newbuilds will remain low on average. It can nevertheless be assumed that the price difference between new-project and secondary market apartments will increase (currently it is roughly 15% or more) also as a result of a low number of newly started projects, persistent prices of materials and labour as well as expensive financing,” adds Filip Žoldák.