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Just a decade ago, buying property outside Poland was the preserve of a small group of investors. Today, from our office on Klimczaka Street in Wilanów, we are witnessing a process of a completely different nature – affluent Poles view foreign markets as a natural extension of their own wealth management strategy, rather than an exotic addition to their portfolio. The scale of this phenomenon is changing, as is the best way to participate in it – and it is precisely membership of an international affiliate network, such as Christie’s International Real Estate, that makes a real difference to clients today.
Why are more and more affluent Poles looking for property abroad?
The motivations are usually multi-layered. For some clients, a property abroad represents a means of diversifying their capital in a currency other than the zloty and within an economy with a different risk profile. For others, it is about building a so-called second home – a place to live during the off-season, near the sea or in a Mediterranean climate. A third factor is also becoming increasingly common: rising property prices in Poland’s largest cities and the limited availability of attractive plots of land mean that some capital which would previously have remained in the country is now seeking opportunities for growth elsewhere. All these motivations converge on a single point – the need for a reliable and trusted guide to a market whose rules the client does not know from personal experience.
How many properties abroad are Poles buying today? What do the verified figures show?
The scale of this phenomenon is no longer a matter of perception, but of hard figures. According to a report by the Spanish General Council of Notaries (Consejo General del Notariado) summarising 2025, Poland ranked seventh among foreign buyers of property in Spain – a group surpassed only by a few of the most active nationalities in this market. This is a rise in the rankings that would have been difficult to imagine just a few years ago. The first half of 2025 alone saw over two thousand transactions concluded by Polish buyers in Spain – a historic record that placed Poland ninth among foreign buyers during that period. The Costa del Sol and the Málaga region recorded double-digit price increases in the premium segment at that time, which further confirms that we are not talking about isolated transactions, but about a sustained trend.
Importantly, Spain – whilst still the undisputed leader – is no longer the only destination. In the second half of 2025, a clear trend towards geographical diversification emerged: Portugal gained in importance thanks to regulatory predictability and a high quality of life; Italy saw a rebound after years of stagnation; and the Côte d’Azur maintained its position as a destination driven more by lifestyle than by pure financial returns. The biggest surprise for market analysts, however, was the dynamic growth in interest in destinations outside Europe – from the United Arab Emirates to Asian and Caribbean markets. For Vilea, this is a clear signal: the Polish premium client has ceased to limit their thinking to a single country or continent, and this means that an agency wishing to serve them effectively must possess global, not just local, expertise.
What exactly is the Christie’s International Real Estate network?
Christie’s International Real Estate is an invitation-only affiliate network, covering over fifty countries and territories across six continents. It is not a franchise in the traditional sense – each partner is an independent, locally managed entity, selected for the network on the basis of reputation, quality of service and actual standing in their market. Vilea Property Boutique is the exclusive partner of Christie’s International Real Estate in Poland.
What tangible benefits do Vilea’s clients actually gain from belonging to such a network?
The most tangible benefit is access to top-tier global marketing exposure – the network partners’ listings reach an international client base, are syndicated in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and Mansion Global, and promotional materials are produced to a single, consistent standard of quality regardless of the country. The second benefit is a shared technological infrastructure, enabling agents from different markets to exchange information about listings and clients efficiently. The third benefit – the least obvious from the outside, yet crucial for premium clients – is access to recommendations. When our client is looking for a property on the Costa del Sol, in Tuscany or in Dubai, they do not end up at a random agency found online, but with a verified partner who shares the same standards of discretion and service quality as Vilea in Warsaw.
How do partners within the Christie’s International Real Estate network collaborate on a day-to-day basis?
The mechanism is simpler than it might seem, and is based on relationships, not anonymous databases. When a client of one affiliate expresses an interest in a market served by another – for example, a Polish client of Vilea planning to buy a villa in France – the matter is referred directly to the local team, which knows the market inside out: local law, taxes, the specifics of negotiations, and often also specific properties not available to the public. Recommendations of this kind work both ways and create a genuine exchange of value between independent firms operating under a common banner. Interestingly, referrals sometimes also flow from Christie’s auction house itself to its property affiliates when the sale of an estate comprising both works of art and a residence is involved – proof that the synergy between the art world and the premium property market, which Vilea is also developing through its partnership with Luxury Boutique magazine, is not solely a Polish concept, but part of the brand’s global philosophy.
How does Vilea help Polish clients buy property abroad?
In practice, the whole process begins in Poland, with a consultation with a Vilea agent, who remains the main point of contact throughout the transaction – regardless of whether the deal is finalised in Marbella, Lisbon or Dubai. The Vilea Abroad team prepares a personalised shortlist of properties, including those available exclusively on an off-market basis, organises on-site viewings and guides the client through the legal, tax and technical due diligence process in collaboration with local law firms. This approach, described in more detail in our article on the international Vilea Abroad team, eliminates the greatest risk associated with such transactions – the randomness of choosing a partner in a foreign market.
Does collaboration within the Christie’s network also help to attract clients looking for property in Poland?
This is an aspect that is rarely discussed publicly, yet one that is of real significance to clients in Poland. Membership of a global network of affiliates is a two-way relationship. Overseas partners – from Spain, France, Italy or the United Arab Emirates – regularly serve clients with Polish roots, Polish-sourced capital, or who are simply interested in investing back in the country. Christie’s International Real Estate, by virtue of its position in the luxury market and its links to the auction house, also serves foreign clients and embassies interested in purchasing property in Poland. When such a client expresses an interest in the Warsaw market or the wider Polish market, they are referred to us – as the sole exclusive partner of Christie’s International Real Estate in Poland. This is a source of contacts that cannot be replicated by any advertising campaign or marketing budget – it is built up over many years through our online reputation and the quality of every transaction we handle together. For our three Warsaw offices – in Wilanów, Śródmieście and Żoliborz – this means a steady stream of enquiries from clients who, even before contacting Vilea, already know they are dealing with a partner of international standing.
The growing demand amongst Poles for property abroad and the expansion of global affiliate networks are two phenomena that feed into one another. The more Polish capital flows into foreign markets, the more important it becomes to have a trusted, verified partner on the ground – and the greater the value of the reverse flow of this relationship, namely the influx of foreign and Polish diaspora contacts interested in the Polish market. If you are considering purchasing property abroad or would like to find out how our international network of contacts works, we invite you to speak to the team at Vilea Property Boutique.
Author: Adrian Kołodziej
Managing Director: Vilea | Christie’s International Real Estate
