Buying an apartment is a safe way to invest your savings. Poles still think so

80 percent surveyed Poles consider purchasing a flat to be a safe form of investing their savings – according to the study “Housing needs and aspirations of Poles”. The survey also showed that 71 percent respondents own real estate.

The study shows that 71 percent respondents own real estate, and for the majority of respondents, owning a flat is commonly associated with a good life, stability and the ability to make family decisions, such as having children.

“A strong orientation towards ownership is also visible among young people, who – although they perceive financial and organizational difficulties related to achieving it more than older generations – share this aspiration. Data indicate that approximately 92 percent of young people (aged 18-24 – PAP) declare their willingness to buy an apartment in the future, provided that the loan installment is comparable to the current rent, while 79.9 percent of respondents consider purchasing an apartment as a safe and good way of investing their savings,” the report said.

Whereas renting an apartment is rather perceived as a temporary solution. 20 percent respondents, in turn, declared their willingness to rent an apartment throughout their lives. In the case of young respondents, this percentage was only 1%.

The authors of the study pointed out that the motives for renting an apartment result primarily from economic constraints, not preferences. In turn, the barriers most frequently indicated by young people against a home loan were: lack of own contribution, installment amount or lack of creditworthiness.

The survey also showed that apartments are most often rented by women (62%) aged around 25 and people who do not live with children (74%), living in large and medium-sized cities.

“The research results clearly show the discrepancy between the declared preference for ownership and the actual acceptance of renting. Only a small percentage of young people and adults consider renting as a long-term alternative to purchasing an apartment, and the majority emphasize the lack of stability and high rental costs as the main barriers. Therefore, the narrative popular in the public debate that renting can be an equivalent option is not confirmed by social attitudes – even among the youngest respondents,” it concluded.

The study was conducted by IBRiS in 2025 on a sample of 1,041 respondents. Responses were collected using the CAWI and CATI methods. (PAP)

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