€1280 million was invested in commercial real estate in the Czech Republic in the first quarter of 2017. This is the largest ever amount of investment registered for a first quarter. The result is mainly attributed to three major transactions: the sale of the Letňany Shopping Centre the CBRE GI portfolio and the change of the Olympia Brno owner. The Czech National Bank’s exit from currency interventions should not slow the strong demand for commercial real estate down.  

2016’s record-breaking €12.2 billion investment in the real estate sector in the CEE region is likely to be surpassed in 2017 – this is according to CEE Real Estate Investment Compass 2017 published by Colliers International and CMS. The sources of investment flows into the CEE region are also expected to remain diverse in 2017, with Asian and CEE investors becoming increasingly active in the real estate market.

Key players of the Romanian property market are highly optimistic about the future. They expect strong demand to last for several more years and major changes to happen in almost all segments of the market. 50 speakers and more than 200 visitors came together at SEE Property Forum 2017, co-organised by Property Forum and RICS, to analyse the potential of the Romanian real estate market from a global perspective. Here’s our second report from Bucharest.

In 2017, following its international assessment, CBRE has created a survey among real estate investors in Hungary asking them about their market expectations. At the CBRE Investment Breakfast investors turned out to be optimistic about the future. 43% of the respondents stated that the investment market might grow even by one-fifth from last year’s €1.5 billion and 23% stated that this year they might reach their highest turnover ever.

The current forecast for total construction volumes in Hungary shows increases of 8% and 12% for 2017 and 2018, respectively. The barriers for the realization of the developments are the rise of construction costs and the lack of skilled labour force. CBRE expects that these issues raise risks of delivery delays and decrease of developers’ profit margins.

SEE Property Forum 2017, a real estate conference co-organised by Property Forum and RICS, has been held for the third time in Bucharest. 50 speakers and more than 200 visitors came together in the capital to analyse the potential of the Romanian real estate market from a global perspective.

Obtaining a green certificate for modern office buildings has become a must in recent years. Still, developers, operators and tenants don’t fully realise what does a certification actually stand for and what kind of effect green solutions actually have on operating costs and productivity. The latest Green Talk, co-organised by RICS and HuGBC, focused on green buildings in Hungary. 

London has been ranked as the most attractive European city for real estate investment for the sixth consecutive year, according to CBRE’s annual Investor Intentions Survey being launched at MIPIM 2017. At 6th place Warsaw is the most attractive CEE city among investors. Prague placed 8th, with Budapest (10th) and Bucharest (14th) also making in the top 15. 

Budapest was among the 50+ cities that showcased its strengths and potential to real estate professionals at MIPIM 2017 with an emphasis on new developments and investment opportunities. Two panel discussions were held during the first two days of the event, both of them moderated by Portfolio Property Forum, the media partner of the Budapest stand. Here are some takeaways from the first two days in Cannes. 

Whilst 2017’s volumes from South Africa are not likely to match 2016’s records, the numbers from Asia could well match or exceed last year’s, given the large number of potential sources that capital can hail from in that vast, deep and liquid arena. Asian investors see CEE as a risky higher return diversification opportunity compared to Western Europe according to the report released at MIPIM from Colliers International.