The residential and office markets have received the lion's share of attention in Budapest recently, but the retail market is also gaining more interest from both tenants and investors. Tourism is booming, domestic purchasing power is growing and the only thing that can hinder growth is the lack of available space and new developments on the market.

Occupier and investment sentiment continues to be positive across Central and Eastern Europe according to the RICS Commercial Property Monitor for Q1 2017. Similarly to last quarter, Hungary remains the most upbeat market globally with the Czech Republic also performing remarkably well. The picture is slightly more mixed in Croatia and Romania, still, near term momentum remains positive in the two markets.

Some 75% of modern office stock in Prague is located within a 10-minute walk from a metro station, making the underground network a crucial feature of successful office projects in the Czech capital, according to Prague Office Metro Map,  the latest research from Colliers International.

The Czech property market saw exceptionally strong investment flows into commercial real estate in Q1 2017 worth €1.57 billion, which was almost double the transaction value compared with the same period of last year, according to Colliers International.

Fenced-off construction sites, scaffold-enfolded buildings and grandiose developments – often only in plans – have become characteristic of the Budapest property market. Just four years after the deepest point of the recession, there is hardly any indication of those hard times left. The upwards trend exists not only on the residential market, but also on the office market, which impacts the majority of companies and employees. The largest investors adapted to the renewed demand and began building massive numbers of office buildings, and entire new areas of the city are being born.

Savills has listed the trends dominating Warsaw’s office market. The most important observation is the creation of a new group of tenants – co-working space operators, which generate an increasing share of demand. Also, as a result of Brexit, up to 4,000 new jobs can be created in Warsaw and the falling unemployment rate will increase the importance of office space in attracting best talents.

Central Europe’s smallest capital has attracted a lot of interest from investors in 2016 with more and more major players keeping their eyes on Bratislava in 2017. Nearly 20 speakers and more than 100 guests came together in the Slovak capital at the first ever Bratislava Property Summit, organised by Property Forum in cooperation with RICS.

Investment flows into the CEE region rose 70% year-on-year in Q1 2017. The level of €2.8 billion is some €0.5 billion higher than the preliminary estimate of €2.3 billion Colliers International published at the beginning of April. Money invested into the Czech Republic  (56% share) and Hungary (19% share) contributed particularly to the significant jump. Looking within the numbers, the retail sector accounted for nearly half (47%) of the flows, leaving the office sector trailing with a 21% share. Of interest and also a sign of buoyant economic growth, the fastest growth was seen in the hotel sector with a portfolio transaction contributing to the €415mn total (a 15% share). 

The Budapest office market is booming and as the needs of tenants are changing, developers need to pay attention not only to sustainability but to employee well-being as well. Panelists at Portfolio’s FM & Office 2017 conference in Budapest talked about the future of the office market in the capital.

After record-breaking 2016, there are still good prospects ahead of Poland’s warehouse market. Regional markets will gain in attractiveness owing to the improving transport infrastructure, availability of investment lands and employees that begin to lack on the most popular markets – according to a report by Colliers International entitled “New locations, new possibilities. Logistic centres vs. labour market”, which was prepared in cooperation with Randstad Poland.