Robust commercial real estate investment activity continued in Q2 2016 across the core Central European markets and reached EUR 2.6 billion, a 56% increase on Q1, according to Cushman & Wakefield. This has pushed volumes over the last twelve months to EUR 9.3 billion, close to 2007 record levels. 

Deutsche Hypothekenbank is acting as the sole lender to a real estate company, which is managed on behalf of four independent investors by Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate GmbH, for the purchase of the Prime Corporate Center office building in Warsaw. The financing volume amounts to € 40.5 million. In addition to this long-term investment financing, Deutsche Hypo is also providing a short-term bridging loan to cover the VAT element in the amount of € 14.2 million.

At the end of the H1 the total supply in the nine major markets in Poland reached 8.6 million sqm. Developers completed a record amount of modern office space – almost 572,000 sqm. Over 1.4 million sqm of office space is under construction and the capital accounts for 609,000 sqm of new offices. The vacancy rate for Poland is 13.4 percent according to Colliers’ report „Market insights | Office market H1 2016“.

Gross take-up on the Czech Republic industrial market reached 349,300 sqm showing an increase of 11% on the Q1 2016 figures. The Industrial Research Forum has announced its final industrial market figures for Q2 2016.

The Bulgarian investment market saw a number of positive developments during the first half of 2016, according to the latest Colliers’ report. Part of the good news is that for the first time since 2012, income-generating transactions prevailed (85%) over speculative (15%).

Immofinanz has completed the purchase of 25,690,163 bearer shares (representing an investment of approx. 26%) of CA Immobilien Anlagen AG from Terim Limited (Cyprus) and four registered shares of CA Immo from O1 Group Limited (Cyprus). The closing took place today, on Tuesday, 2 August 2016. The purchase price for the package totals approx. EUR 604 million. 

According to Cushman & Wakefield, robust commercial real estate investment activity in the core Central European markets of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania continued in the second quarter of 2016 and reached EUR 2.6 billion, a 56% increase on Q1. This has pushed volumes over the last twelve months to EUR 9.3 billion, close to 2007 record levels.

Immofinanz recorded net profit of EUR -390.4 million for the 2015/16 financial year (2014/15: EUR -376.6 million). The year-on-year decline resulted primarily from EUR -469.8 million of negative effects from the foreign exchange-adjusted valuation of the Russian portfolio and from a decrease in rental income to EUR 314.5 million (2014/15: EUR 385.6 million) which was caused by temporary rent reductions in Moscow and the planned sale of properties.

There has been a significant increase in demand for income-producing industrial properties bought for investment purposes in Hungary in the past two years. China's Shanghai Feilo Acoustics owned Inesa Europe purchased more than 16,000 square meters of industrial property under such a deal. The distribution center located at Dunakeszi serves the European customers of one of the largest LED manufacturers in China.

The supply of new apartments in Budapest has increased significantly, 2.5 times, between February and March of 2016, but only a few can move in as the number of apartments with an occupancy permit is limited. The first wave of increase will hit the market in the second half of 2017. The still tight supply and large demand has pushed prices upward; the increase in price per square meter has exceeded 5%, as shown by the analysis of the Budapest Housing Market Report.