An Analysis of the Impact and Influence of the Global Economic Crisis on the Housing Market in European Post-Communist Countries

For decades there did not exist a private housing market in countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the owner of the majority of housing resources used to be the state. This market, following the polity transformations, was gradually changing into a private housing market, acting on the basis of free market economy. Households, which formed the demand party, were given the opportunity to accumulate the capital by purchasing real estate, while estate developers (the supply party) - in response to the existing demand - were able to satisfy their own expectations regarding the rates of return from invested capital. This mechanism enabled society to grow rich. The above-described development was disrupted because of the economic crisis. The global crisis of 2008 had a negative impact on the condition of the housing market which responded with a drop in prices and a decrease in estate developers' activity. The drop in the prices was caused by, among others, a more difficult access to financing purchases of real estates, whereas the developers' slack activity manifested itself in a smaller number of construction permits, a decrease in the value of building production or a lower number of the employed in construction industry. The present article aims to analyze the impact of the economic crisis on the housing market in European post-communist states and to measure the extent of it. In the conducted research, the level of the influence was associated with the intensity and the length of its operating on the market.