Is rent getting more expensive in Warsaw?

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Is rent in Warsaw actually getting more expensive right now?

Warsaw rents are barely rising right now, and for the apartments most people actually rent, prices are basically flat.

Otodom Analytics puts Warsaw studios below 40 m² at PLN 2,976 per month, just 0.3% above a year earlier. Apartments of 40–59 m² average PLN 3,888, down 0.3% year on year. Larger homes of 60–89 m² are doing a little more, at PLN 6,056 and +1.5%.

Monthly moves are small too. In the same Otodom dataset, studios rose 0.6% in the latest comparable month, while the two larger categories fell 0.2% and 0.6%.

AMRON-SARFiN shows a stronger annual increase, with average Warsaw rents on active tenancy contracts up 7.04% year on year in the first quarter. But even there, the quarterly move was only +0.64%, and AMRON described the broader rental market as stable.

So if the question is whether someone looking for a normal Warsaw apartment today is suddenly facing another rent surge, the answer is no.

Why does one Warsaw rent report say +7% while another says almost zero?

Warsaw rent reports disagree because they are measuring different parts of the rental market.

Otodom Analytics tracks advertised rents and lets us compare apartments by size. That gives a good picture of what someone searching for a new flat is being asked to pay today.

AMRON works with active tenancy agreements. Its rent measure covers the amount paid to landlords but excludes administration charges, management fees, utilities and similar costs.

The mix of apartments also changes the average. If more expensive properties make up a larger share of one dataset, its citywide rent can rise even when the price of a typical 45 m² apartment stays almost unchanged.

For this question, comparable apartment sizes tell us more than a single Warsaw-wide average. That is why the near-zero annual change in Otodom's studio and 40–59 m² categories deserves more weight when judging what new tenants are seeing now.

AMRON's +7.04% still matters. It tells us some parts of Warsaw's existing rental stock have continued to reprice. It just should not be read as “every Warsaw apartment is now 7% more expensive.”

How much does it cost to rent an apartment in Warsaw today?

Renting in Warsaw is still expensive: roughly PLN 3,000 for a small apartment and close to PLN 3,900 for a typical 40–59 m² flat before additional charges.

Current Otodom data puts apartments under 40 m² at PLN 2,976 per month and 40–59 m² homes at PLN 3,888. For 60–89 m², the average jumps above PLN 6,000.

A separate multi-portal dataset based on tens of thousands of Warsaw listings gives a lower citywide median of around PLN 3,200 and an average close to PLN 3,600–4,000 depending on the month and property mix. Its two-room apartments have recently clustered around PLN 3,400–3,600.

The numbers do not line up perfectly because the portals, listings and apartment mixes are different. But the budget range is pretty clear: around PLN 2,600–3,000 for a small flat, and something closer to PLN 3,500–3,900 for a standard two-room apartment.

That is before administration fees and utilities, which can make the real monthly housing bill noticeably higher.

Have Warsaw rents gone up a lot over the last few years?

Warsaw rents have gone up massively over the last five years, even though they are hardly moving now.

Bankier.pl's analysis of Otodom data shows that asking rents for the popular 40–59 m² category are more than 50% above their level five years ago.

The timing tells us even more. A 40–59 m² Warsaw apartment averaged PLN 3,697 around mid-2023 and PLN 3,884 by the end of that year. It then moved to PLN 3,951 at the end of 2024 and is currently around PLN 3,888.

Most of the repricing had already happened before 2024. Since then, tenants have been dealing with a high rent level rather than another powerful wave of increases.

The current annual change for mainstream 40–59 m² apartments is actually slightly negative. That does not undo what happened earlier. Warsaw simply reached a much higher level and then stopped climbing quickly.

Was 2022 the moment Warsaw rent really changed?

The big Warsaw rent shock came around 2022, and today's high prices are largely the legacy of that period.

Before then, Warsaw's rental market moved much more slowly. Bankier's reconstruction of Otodom figures shows annual rent changes mostly staying within roughly -8% to +5% between 2017 and 2021, with the pandemic temporarily pushing rents down.

That changed sharply after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Poland absorbed a huge inflow of refugees at the same time as inflation accelerated and mortgage rates became much more painful.

By mid-2023, Warsaw asking rents were still increasing around 15% year on year across all three main apartment-size groups. Studios were up 14.8%, 40–59 m² flats 15.4%, and 60–89 m² homes 15.0%.

Migration was only part of it. Otodom has also pointed to inflation, more expensive home financing and higher property values as reasons landlords pushed rents upward.

Those pressures reset the price level fast. What we have now is the much calmer market that followed.

Are small Warsaw apartments still getting more expensive?

Small and mid-sized Warsaw apartments are currently the clearest evidence that rent inflation has stalled.

Studios below 40 m² are only 0.3% more expensive than a year ago in Otodom's latest comparable data. Apartments of 40–59 m² are actually 0.3% cheaper.

The longer path is even more convincing for two-room apartments. Their average asking rent was PLN 3,884 at the end of 2023, PLN 3,951 at the end of 2024 and PLN 3,888 now.

That puts the mainstream Warsaw rental market in almost the same place as it was more than two years ago.

Studios have moved around a little more month to month, including several consecutive declines before the latest small rebound. But nothing in the current data suggests landlords have regained enough pricing power to push small-apartment rents up quickly.

Are bigger apartments in Warsaw getting more expensive faster?

Larger Warsaw apartments are getting a little more expensive than smaller ones, but the increase is still modest.

Otodom Analytics puts 60–89 m² apartments at PLN 6,056 per month, 1.5% higher than a year earlier.

A month earlier, the annual increase was 3.9%, which shows how easily this category can move when the mix of listings changes. Larger homes differ much more in location, condition and quality than a typical studio.

Family-sized apartments also have less direct substitution. Someone looking for 70 m² with two bedrooms usually cannot solve the problem by switching to a 30 m² studio.

That gives landlords a little more room to raise prices. Still, today's increase is nowhere near the double-digit rent growth Warsaw was seeing during the post-2022 surge.

Does the Warsaw district you choose matter more than rent inflation?

Yes. Where you live in Warsaw currently changes your monthly rent far more than the city's annual rent increase does.

A recent multi-portal dataset puts average advertised rent in Rembertów below PLN 3,000, while Wilanów is above PLN 5,000. Mokotów and Wola sit above PLN 4,000, while Praga-Południe and Ochota are much closer to the mid-PLN 3,000s.

That leaves a gap of well over PLN 2,000 per month between some outer and premium districts.

The gap is much larger than the 0–2% annual rent movement currently showing up for most comparable apartment sizes.

This is also why citywide averages can get noisy. A month with more Wilanów or Wola listings can make Warsaw look more expensive even if landlords have barely changed prices on comparable apartments.

Is Warsaw still much more expensive than other Polish cities?

Warsaw remains easily the most expensive major rental market in Poland, even though other cities are currently seeing faster rent growth.

For 40–59 m² apartments, Warsaw averages PLN 3,888. Gdańsk is next at PLN 3,193, followed by Kraków at PLN 3,097 and Wrocław at PLN 2,986.

That means a comparable Warsaw apartment costs roughly 22% more than in Gdańsk, 26% more than in Kraków and 30% more than in Wrocław.

The gap with Łódź is much larger. Its 40–59 m² average is PLN 2,357, putting Warsaw about PLN 1,530 higher every month.

Yet Warsaw currently has less rent momentum than several cheaper cities. The same Otodom dataset shows 40–59 m² rents rising 5.1% year on year in Szczecin, 3.2% in Łódź and 1.9% in Poznań.

Warsaw is still winning the price race, but it is no longer leading the growth race.

Are salaries in Warsaw finally catching up with rent?

Warsaw salaries are currently rising much faster than asking rents, so affordability is improving a little for workers whose pay follows the broader city trend.

Official Warsaw statistics put the average gross enterprise-sector salary at PLN 11,185 in June, up 6.6% from a year earlier. The latest city reading is even higher, at PLN 11,393.

The most common apartment categories have barely changed in price over the same broad period.

The comparison is imperfect because average gross pay is not what a typical worker takes home. High earners also pull the average upward, while tenants still have administration fees, heating, electricity and other bills on top of the headline rent.

Still, the direction is useful. During the worst part of Warsaw's rent shock, housing costs were jumping by double digits. These days, wages are rising while mainstream asking rents are almost standing still.

That gives tenants some breathing room, even though Warsaw housing remains expensive.

Is Warsaw running short of rental apartments again?

Warsaw does not currently appear to be running out of rental apartments.

Otodom reported that the number of active rental listings fell around 3% month on month as the student season picked up. That is normal tightening, but landlords were also adding stock quickly: across Poland's main academic cities, 17,500 new rental listings entered the market in one month, more than 20% above the previous month.

Current Warsaw multi-portal datasets also contain tens of thousands of active advertisements. Those numbers should not be compared directly with Otodom because the methodology and duplicate treatment differ, but neither source points to an empty market.

The shortage is more selective. A well-priced apartment in Mokotów, Wola or another popular location can still disappear quickly, especially at the cheaper end.

Citywide, though, tenants currently have enough choice to stop landlords raising rents aggressively.

Is the student rush pushing Warsaw rents higher?

The student rush is making Warsaw's rental market busier, but it has not produced a serious rent spike.

Otodom recently found that contacts with rental advertisements in Poland's big academic cities were around 40% higher than a year earlier. Warsaw's rental offer also tightened during the summer.

Even with that extra demand, Warsaw asking rents only moved slightly. The latest comparable monthly increase for studios was 0.6%, while 40–59 m² and 60–89 m² apartments actually became a little cheaper.

Students are also finding ways around high rents. Otodom calculated that sharing accommodation in Warsaw can save around PLN 1,300 per month compared with renting alone, with individual rooms costing roughly PLN 1,300.

That kind of price sensitivity keeps a lid on what landlords can charge. Demand is clearly there, but tenants are not simply accepting any price.

Are Warsaw renters starting to buy homes instead?

More Polish renters are moving into homeownership, and that is probably helping to cool Warsaw rents.

AMRON says improved mortgage availability is already allowing some tenants to buy instead, freeing up rental apartments and limiting the room for sharp rent increases.

That fits the wider mortgage data. Banks issued 83,600 new housing loans in the second quarter, worth PLN 39.7 billion. AMRON called it the highest quarterly number of new loans since 2007 and a record by value.

Over the first half of the year, nearly 157,000 mortgages were issued for more than PLN 73 billion.

Otodom's consumer research gives another useful clue: 25% of surveyed mortgage borrowers who had bought within the previous three years said the end of a rental contract or dissatisfaction with renting played a role in their decision.

That 25% is not Warsaw-specific, so it should not be pushed too far. But the broader mechanism is convincing: as mortgages become easier to obtain, part of rental demand disappears into the ownership market.

Is professional rental housing pushing Warsaw rents up?

Professional rental companies are becoming more visible in Warsaw, but they are still too small to dictate prices across the whole city.

According to CBRE data included in AMRON's reporting, Warsaw has about 10,800 completed private-rental-sector apartments, around 36% of Poland's institutional rental stock. Another 7,100 are planned or under development.

These projects are often expensive. Warsaw institutional schemes can charge above PLN 100 per m², with studios commonly starting around PLN 2,500 and going above PLN 4,000, while one-bedroom units can reach PLN 5,000 depending on location and standard.

That can make new professional rental buildings look much more expensive than older private apartments nearby.

But the sector also adds supply. Thousands of professionally managed units give tenants more alternatives and create competition for private landlords.

For now, institutional rental is changing the type of housing Warsaw tenants can choose from more than it is setting the price of the whole market.

What could make Warsaw rents rise or fall from here?

Warsaw rents currently look more likely to move gradually than to either surge or crash.

A new jump would probably require a clear demand shock. Large-scale migration, another sharp deterioration in mortgage affordability or much stronger employment growth without enough new housing could all put landlords back in control.

Supply deserves watching too. Official Warsaw statistics show 8,661 dwellings completed during the first seven months of the year, fewer than over the same period previously. If construction stays weak for several years while the city's population and employment continue growing, rental pressure could return.

On the other side, easier mortgages are already moving some tenants into ownership, and professional rental supply is expanding. Warsaw's unemployment rate is only around 1.6%, so there is little sign of the kind of economic shock that normally drives rents sharply lower either.

Small increases, flat periods and occasional corrections all look plausible. A return to 10–15% annual rent growth would need something important to change.

So, is rent getting more expensive in Warsaw?

Mostly no. Warsaw rent is still painfully high, but the current market is much closer to a plateau than another inflationary wave.

The picture gets clearer once we separate today's movement from the huge rise that came earlier. Small and mainstream apartments are changing by around zero year on year, larger flats are only modestly higher, and even the seasonal student rush has failed to produce a strong jump.

AMRON's active-contract data is the main reason not to call the market completely flat. Its earlier +7.04% annual increase shows that some leases and parts of the rental stock were still catching up. Yet its quarterly increase was only 0.64%, and AMRON itself now describes the rental market as stable.

Meanwhile, Warsaw salaries are rising faster than asking rents, mortgage activity has strengthened, and tenants still have enough choice to resist aggressive increases.

The five-year picture is harsher. Mainstream Warsaw rents are roughly 50% above where they were before the big repricing, and very little of that increase has been reversed.

For someone renting in Warsaw today, that is the key distinction: the city has already become much more expensive. Right now, it is mostly staying there.

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