GTC has acquired two buildings in Bucharest, Premium Plaza and Premium Point. The two modern A-class office buildings in the capital’s CBD will increase GTC’s Romanian portfolio by 15,000 square metres of net leasable area.

OTP Real Estate Investment Fund has acquired a 30-thousand-square-metre logistics property within the Industrial Park of Győr. The purchase is part of a portfolio optimization strategy, by which the Fund aims to increase the yields of the OTP Real Estate Investment Fund.

The Prague Research Forum announced its office market figures for the first quarter of 2016. Gross take-up amounted to 92,200 sq m, representing a decrease of 43% compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 26% in year-on-year comparison. In Q1 2016, the vacancy rate decreased by 0.7 percentage points to 13.9% compared to the previous quarter.

IT and business service centres were the most active tenants on the Prague office market last year, having signed lease contracts for 84,000 sqm and reaching 31 % of net take-up. In 2015 the largest leasing transaction represented by an agent (JLL) was concluded in the history of Prague´s office market – SAP leased nearly 25,000 sqm in Metronom office building in Prague 5. SAP will move its 2,000 employees working for three operations under one roof. 

The vacancy rate on the Budapest industrial market declined 2 percentage points to a level below 10%. The Budapest Research Forum has published its Q1 2016 industrial market snapshot.

Vacancy rates have further declined on the Budapest office market as a result of modest development activity and strong demand from tenants. The Budapest Research Forum has published its quarterly office market analysis.

Wizz Air Hungary Kft., the largest low-cost airline in CEE moved its Budapest headquarters to Laurus Offices in mid-March 2016. Wizz Air is renting nearly 3,200 square meters of office space in building B of the complex, which was developed by Erste Group Immorent Kft., an affiliate of Austria-based Erste Group.

RICS, hand in hand with other global organisations, is constantly working to raise the quality of property valuation and measurement standards. In several countries, RICS valuers are already required to join Valuer Registration, while IPMS for office buildings is being implemented in many different parts of the world. But when will these innovations result in better professional practices in Central and Eastern Europe? Maarten Vermeulen FRICS, Managing Director of RICS EMEA, CIS & Russia talked to us at the Portfolio - RICS Property Valuation 2016 conference in Budapest.

According to a study by JLL called Destination Europe 2015, Prague has been ranked as the 14th most attractive market in EMEA for the expansion of international and luxury retailers. This reflects the strong purchasing power of the Prague and Czech citizens, as well as its massive volume of tourists. According to TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Global City Destinations 2016, the City of Prague ranks in 4th position in the Europe. Prague’s flourishing retail market has been on property investors´ radar over the past few years and the purchase of Palladium, a prime shopping centre in the very heart of Prague, was one of the largest transactions closed on the Czech real estate market last year.         

On 11th April, the Hungarian government announced their proposal for parliament to abolish the standing law regarding Sunday closing for retail units. The proposal has already passed through voting in the Parliament on 12th April, theoretically allowing stores to open from Sunday, 17 April 2016. The decision comes little more than a year after the legislation came into effect in March 2015, and is likely a direct consequence of recent developments having paved the way for a referendum on the widely criticized policy. According to CBRE’s experience this is a highly appreciated change in legislation by the industry.