According to “Office Occupier – Office Market in Regions”, a report published by real estate advisory firm Newmark Polska, the first quarter of 2026 saw relatively low occupier demand in Poland’s regional city office markets, with new leases prevailing. Although new supply more than doubled the full-year 2025 total, office completions this year are expected to fall to the second-lowest level in 20 years. Construction activity is concentrated in two cities – Poznań and Kraków – which together account for over 75% of the development pipeline. According to forecasts, the vacancy rate, which edged up during the first quarter, is likely to gradually decline in the coming quarters.
At the end of March 2026, the combined office stock of Poland’s key regional cities (Kraków, Wrocław, Tricity, Katowice, Poznań, Łódź, Lublin, and Szczecin) – excluding Warsaw – stood at just over 6.76 million sqm, having contracted marginally by 0.1% year-on-year.
“Nearly 47,200 sqm of new office space came on stream in the first quarter, marking a staggering 130% increase on the full-year 2025 total of 20,550 sqm. Despite this, this year’s new supply across regional cities is unlikely to surpass 100,000 sqm, which would represent the second lowest volume of new office deliveries since 2006. The largest projects completed in the first three months of 2026 include Swobodna SPOT A in Wrocław (14,700 sqm) and Punkt in Tricity (12,700 sqm),” says Karol Wyka, Executive Board Director, Head of Office Department, Newmark Polska.
Just under 166,000 sqm of office space was under construction across the regional markets at the end of the first quarter of 2026, marking a decrease of 23.6% quarter-on-quarter and 14% year-on-year. Over 75% of this total was concentrated in two cities: Poznań and Kraków.
“Only four projects in the pipeline will deliver more than 10,000 sqm each. Developers are increasingly opting for smaller schemes, with local market players stepping up construction activity and accounting for 12 out of the 16 buildings under development, representing 50% of total office space under construction,” adds Karol Wyka.
Following a very strong fourth quarter and full-year 2025, leasing activity slowed markedly in the first three months of 2026. Total take-up climbed to 121,500 sqm, down by over 51% quarter-on-quarter and almost 30% year-on-year. In the period January-March 2025 there was only one large lease signed for more than 10,000 sqm in the regional office markets.
By transaction type, new leases accounted for 50.6% of total take-up in the regional office markets in the first three months of 2026, followed by renegotiations and renewals at 37%. The remaining 12.4% came from expansions (11.4%), owner-occupier deals (0.6%) and pre-lets (0.4%).
“Leasing activity in the three months to March 2026 hit its highest in Tricity, which saw 49,550 sqm of office transactions. Wrocław followed with nearly 25,450 sqm signed for, while take-up in Kraków amounted to almost 16,700 sqm. These three cities accounted for over 75% of total leasing activity across the regions in the first quarter. The most active sectors were manufacturing and professional services, which generated 18% and 17% of total leasing volume respectively, with IT ranking third at 13%,” says Karol Wyka.
At the end of March 2026, the overall office vacancy rate in the key regional markets stood at 17.4%, up 0.5 pp quarter-on-quarter but down 0.1 pp year-on-year. Unoccupied space accounted for more than 22% of total stock in two cities: Katowice and Wrocław. The vacancy rate is, however, expected to edge down in the coming quarters, driven by moderate development activity and stable occupier demand. Total office availability across Poland’s eight main regional cities reached 1.18 million sqm.
Prime office rents across the regional markets have held firm at EUR 16.00-18.00 per sqm per month for several quarters.
“At the end of March 2026, only 16 office buildings completed over the past six years had vacant units exceeding 5,000 sqm, indicating a limited supply of large office spaces in the most sought after locations. Looking ahead, the availability of 3,000+ sqm offices is expected to shrink further, putting upward pressure on rents, particularly in top-tier buildings,” says Agnieszka Giermakowska, Research & Advisory Director, ESG Lead, Newmark Polska.
