Real Property in Krakow

Krakow is the most attractive city to live in Poland and the country's second biggest market for real estate.

Krakow's real estate 

For the time being foreigners may legally buy Krakow apartments or building plots up to 0.4 hectare (i.e. about an acre) without much red tape as long as they pledge that it will be their fixed abode and they do not own other domicile in Poland. Plus aliens can freely inherit any property. Otherwise acquisition of real estate by an alien requires authorization from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, usually easy to get. 
The prices of new Krakow flats start at an equivalent of euro 1,500 or so per square meter. A three-bedroom house may cost anything between euro 100,000–500,000. Also one can purchase a tenement house in the downtown for euro several millions. 
Property tax in Krakow for residential property amounts to as little as 0.54 zloty per square meter yearly. 

See more information on the market for real estate in Krakow

Toolkit for would-be buyers of Krakow property

It's good to remember that the country's land registry, Polish ksiegi wieczyste, provides information about real property crucial for the buyer - from names of the actual owners to mortgages to restrictions. 

Apart from the full ownership of real estate also popular in Poland is the perpetual lease - so called dzierzawa wieczysta - as well as a limited ownership of flats within housing cooperatives, all of them transferable. 

In order to be effective, any transfer of the ownership of real property must be completed at the office of a local notary public who also collects the deed tax (stamp duty) when applicable and the court fee for an entry in the land register. Also, the notary is responsible for placing the correct entry in the land register. 
In Krakow people either employ a real estate agent to sell their property or resort to classified advertisements in local newspapers and/or on the Internet. 

See more advice on buying real estate in Krakow

Krakow's Real Estate Agents

List of realtors active in Krakow, their address and contact information. 

Go to the list of real estate agents in Krakow

Residential property in Krakow

See more about flats and other residential property in Krakow

Commercial Property in Krakow

Office space in modern buildings in Krakow costs from eight euros per square meter monthly at the lower end of the market to euro 16 per sq. m. a month in the downtown top class-A office block, inclusive of service charges. And the overall vacancy rate hovers around 20 percent. 

Mercantile facilities at Krakow’s Old Town’s busiest street, Florianska, and at the city’s central Rynek Glowny square rank among Poland’s priciest. On the other hand shopping centers have mushroomed in Krakow since the mid-1990s, with monthly rents averaging euro 30 per square meter (plus service charges to the tune of about 3.5 euro per sq. meter) even as vacancies are scarce. 

Find more info about commercial property in Krakow

How to sell real estate in Krakow

No doubt Krakow is now a seller’s market for any real property, and in particular the demand for flats keeps outpacing supply by far. 

A licensed real estate agent should take care of all legal matters. And the transaction needs to be completed with the help of the local notary public to be valid. The notary keeps the deed (called akt notarialny)  whereas both the buyer and the seller are get certified copies. 

The seller, Polish and alien alike, should pay Poland’s income tax on the proceeds from selling property in Krakow though there are exceptions. 

See more advice on selling real property in Krakow