Warsaw stays on top: Poland’s city price rankings in 2026-Q2

Warsaw still sets the pace

Warsaw remains the priciest city in Poland’s latest NBP BaRN city rankings, at 16,723 PLN/m² in 2026-Q2. Kraków follows at 14,792 PLN/m², then Gdańsk at 14,035 PLN/m². That puts the capital more than 1,900 PLN/m² above Kraków and almost 8,700 PLN/m² above Łódź, which sits at the bottom of the list.

The spread matters. These are transaction prices, not asking prices: the averages come from notarial deeds on the secondary market. For readers comparing cities, the gap between the top and bottom of the ranking is wide enough to reshape where a budget will stretch.

The ranking at a glance

The top eight cities in the latest ranking show a clear drop-off after the big three. Warsaw, Kraków and Gdańsk occupy the top tier, then the line steps down to Wrocław and Gdynia, with a second cluster below 11,000 PLN/m².

That middle band is where the market gets more interesting for people weighing up trade-offs. Wrocław and Gdynia are still above 12,000 PLN/m², but both are notably below the coastal and capital peaks. Rzeszów, Poznań and Lublin sit closer to the 11,000 PLN/m² mark than to the 15,000 PLN/m² level.

Affordable cities keep a wide gap from the top

At the lower end, Łódź is the most affordable city in the dataset at 8,020 PLN/m². It is followed closely by Katowice at 8,102 PLN/m² and Kielce at 8,193 PLN/m². Bydgoszcz comes in at 8,342 PLN/m², while Zielona Góra rounds out the five cheapest cities at 8,633 PLN/m².

The median city price in this dataset is 9,403 PLN/m². That places the middle of the pack well below the big-city leaders and above the most affordable group by a fairly narrow margin. In practical terms, the ranking is pulled upward by Warsaw and the other top-market cities, while a long cluster of cheaper cities sits below 9,000 PLN/m².

The cheapest five cities

What the city spread says about the market

The ranking shows a market with sharp geography. The top five cities all clear 12,000 PLN/m², while the bottom five in the affordability list all remain under 8,700 PLN/m². That is a substantial divide across Poland’s urban housing map.

For readers tracking city-to-city differences, the contrast is especially stark between Warsaw and Łódź: 16,723 PLN/m² versus 8,020 PLN/m². Even before looking at neighbourhoods, transit access, or building age, the city-level ranking alone can change what sort of home a budget reaches.

Neighbourhood and transit angle

City averages are only the first layer. The next step is to compare these rankings with neighbourhood-level searches and transport links, especially in the biggest markets. In Warsaw, Kraków and Gdańsk, central districts and well-connected transit corridors are likely to matter much more than the citywide average suggests.

For a city-level starting point, readers can use our Housing market page. For street- or neighbourhood-level price checks, the property price explorer is the faster route once you know the address you want to test.

Developer listings to watch

This article is based on secondary-market transaction prices only, so it does not include new-build asking prices. Still, the city ranking helps frame where developer registers may matter most.

The strongest price pressure is at the top of the table: Warsaw, Kraków and Gdańsk. Buyers comparing new-build asking prices in those markets will usually need to benchmark them against already expensive secondary-market city averages. At the lower end, Łódź, Katowice and Kielce remain well below the median city level, which may keep new-build pricing comparisons in a different range.

Practical takeaway

If you are comparing Polish cities on price alone, the latest ranking splits the market into clear tiers. Warsaw is the outlier at the top, Kraków and Gdańsk form the next bracket, and a broad middle group sits around 10,000 to 13,000 PLN/m². On the other side, Łódź, Katowice and Kielce remain the cheapest cities in the dataset.

For expats and foreign buyers, the useful move is simple: start with the city average, then drill down to the district and address level before making any comparison across markets. The city ranking sets the frame; the neighbourhood search tells you what the frame actually buys.