Primary Property Market
The segment of the property market covering units sold directly by a developer for the first time, as opposed to units already previously owned and resold on the secondary market.
Applies to Poland.
Definition
The primary market (rynek pierwotny) consists of new-build units sold by a developer directly to a first buyer. In Poland, these transactions are specifically regulated by the Act of 20 May 2021 on the Protection of Rights of Buyers of a Residential Unit or Single-Family House, which imposes obligations not present in an ordinary resale — an information prospectus, a developer escrow account for buyer payments, and statutory reservation and preliminary agreement protections.
Buying on the primary market usually means the unit is sold at a stage of construction, with a purchase price that may still include VAT — rather than the tax on civil-law transactions applicable to most secondary-market resales — and a delivery or handover date rather than immediate occupancy.
Because a primary-market unit has no prior owner, there is no existing land and mortgage register entry to review at the outset — a fresh register is opened once the building is completed and the individual unit is legally separated out.
Examples
A buyer reserves an apartment on the primary market that is still under construction, with a developer's promised handover date 18 months away.
Because the purchase is on the primary market, the price the buyer pays includes VAT rather than the property transaction tax typical of a resale.
A buyer comparing a primary-market unit against a comparable secondary-market flat notes that the developer protection act gives them an escrow-account guarantee the secondary-market seller cannot offer.
How this affects buying and selling
Buyers on the primary market benefit from statutory protections — the escrow account and information prospectus — that don't exist for an ordinary resale, but they should budget for a longer timeline between reservation and actually moving in, since the unit may still be under construction.
