The average flat size in Poland is 21 sqm smaller than the EU average and the overcrowding rate is nearly 20 percentage points higher, says Cushman & Wakefield in its latest report. It is therefore no wonder that despite increasingly prohibitive prices, housing demand continues to grow, thereby fuelling demand for mortgages. According to BIK data, June 2024 saw an almost 52% year-on-year increase in mortgage enquiries, with this growth also driven by interest rate cuts - the first since 2021. It would take Polish people wanting to buy a dream home several years to save up enough for a 20% mortgage deposit. Unfortunately, Cushman & Wakefield’s forecasts indicate that price growth is unlikely to ease to give Polish consumers some respite. Contrary to intentions, factors that are likely to add to their disadvantage include a new governmental support scheme and constrained land availability.  

A consortium of Santander Bank Polska and Bank Pekao S.A. granted AFI Europe and Echo Investment a construction and investment loan of €103.4 million and a VAT loan of PLN 20 million. The loan will finance the development of Office House, the first phase of the multifunctional Towarowa 22 project. It will be completed in the spring of 2025.

Maistra Hospitality Group, Croatia's second-largest tourism player, has obtained a blue and green sustainability-linked loan of up to €200 million, from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), as part of its strategy to boost sustainability operations. 

Industrial developer WDP has secured a €250 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for investments in photovoltaic systems and electric vehicle charging stations across its portfolio. 

GTC has presented the summary of its activities in Poland in the first half of 2024. Over 35,400 sqm of office space was leased across ten buildings in Poland's largest cities. GTC’s properties attracted 14 new partners, and 18 companies chose to extend their leases.

Developer J&T Real Estate is requesting a construction change permit for the Downtown Yards project, SME.sk reports. Along with minor changes, there is an important one reflecting a trend obvious since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stollwerck Residence has moved closer to construction start after years of controversy, reports Yimba.sk. The project is to be built on a cramped plot of land at the busy road junction next to the defunct railway line to Filiálka in Bratislava.

Rüdiger Dany, CEO of NEPI Rockcastle, talked to Property Forum about the group’s €650 million development pipeline, demand trends in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and its investments in photovoltaic panels across the portfolio of assets.

The abandoned brownfield of the former Poldi Kladno steel mill in the Czech Republic is soon to be transformed. On a large part of the area belonging to the RSJ investment group, the developer Panattoni has started construction of industrial halls this summer, reports E15.cz.

The mixed-use development Prešovská in Bratislava by the Hornex construction company received a binding opinion from the city, and the current change indicates that the investor is striving for further acceleration of construction, reports Yimba.sk.