ARTICLES LABELLED WITH TAG CEE

7 million citizens of the CEE-6 countries reside in Western Europe and the return of even a relatively small portion of these would boost regional GDP, stimulating the development of real estate markets, says Colliers International in its latest research report "Labour Force Boomerang"

On 19 September 2017 the fifth edition of CEE Property Forum, organized by Property Forum in partnership with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) will gather leading real estate professionals and top executives from Central & Eastern Europe to analyse the potential of the regional real estate market from a global perspective. 70 speakers and more than 400 visitors will come together in Vienna, creating a unique networking opportunity. 

Globalworth Real Estate Investment has successfully priced a €550 million Eurobond.  The five-year euro-denominated bond matures on 20 June 2022 and carries a fixed interest rate of 2.875 per cent payable annually beginning on 20 June 2018. The company has applied for the bond to be traded on the Irish Stock Exchange.

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.

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). 

Tenant representation is becoming an increasingly common phenomenon on the office markets of Central Europe, which is without a doubt a sign of a healthy, growing and more educated market. Their activity, however, often raises ethical questions as it’s still often unclear who pays for their services. Conflict of interest in tenant representation has been one of the key topics of two regional events: the Property Forum - RICS Prague Property Summit 2017 and the latest RICS Hungary Tea & Talk in Budapest.

Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed by CPI Property Group to continue as a property manager of two major shopping centers and one multifunctional complex in Central and Eastern Europe which have been recently acquired from CBRE Global Investors.

Ronny Pecik has, referring to RPR Management GmbH’s right to acquire 7.6 million shares in S IMMO AG granted by Anadoria Investments Ltd. on 6 April 2017, notified S IMMO AG via legal representatives, that RPR Management GmbH, a subsidiary of RPR Privatstiftung has named the affiliated companies Everest Investment GmbH & Co KG and Pavus Immobilien GmbH & Co KG as purchasers, which acquired the shares on 4 May 2017.

Central European industrial markets have a bright future ahead of them but regulatory issues and labour shortage can pose a threat to further growth in many countries. The speakers of the first ever Prague Property Summit analysed the potential of the market from a European perspective.