It’s no surprise that expansion of the European logistics real estate market continued in 2018, with another strong year for occupier demand, lowest vacancy rates and long anticipated rent growth began to materialize. At the start of 2019 concerns increased around capital market volatility and potential impact to global GDP due to US-China trade tensions and Brexit. Even though the logistics real estate market ended 2018 on a strong note, some increased concerns at the start of the year raise the inevitable question: what can we expect in 2019? Prologis looked at the top trends influencing the market this year.

JLL has appointed Tomasz Trzósło as Managing Director of the CEE Markets. He will oversee the company’s operations across Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, alongside his existing responsibilities as country manager for JLL’s business in Poland.

Europe’s commercial property market is enjoying a favourable operating environment supporting its credit quality but risks are increasing. Rising interest rates and slowing economic growth could dampen future investor demand, according to Moody’s latest report.

Colliers International sees the most important macro indicator for CEE in 2019, Eurozone interest rates, flat-lining at zero. This should stem some of the potential angst over tightening credit conditions, keep liquidity high, buyers interested and help pricing to plateau. Colliers International foresees selective compression in capital city prime office yields and still like the logistics sector. Absent a Eurozone financial crisis, funding from lenders should remain a support. Colliers International published its latest CEE report.

According to JLL, CEE's real estate investment transactional volume for 2018 was in excess of €13.23 billion and recorded an 11% increase over 2017 (€11.92 billion). JLL has registered continued appetite from investors for the full range of assets across the entire region. Poland smashed its previous record volume set in 2006 (€5.05 billion) with a spectacular €7.2 billion traded, and secured a massive regional share of 54%. Poland was followed by the Czech Republic (€2.51 billion - 19% share), Hungary (€1.85 billion - 14%), Romania (€900 million - 7%) and Slovakia (€820 million - 6%).

CEE real estate developer Futureal Group announced the sale of its rental buildings portfolio in Kaiserslautern, Germany to a professional real estate investment firm listed in Switzerland. Proceeds from the deal will be reinvested in the Group’s portfolio of over 50 ongoing projects throughout Europe.

According to Knight Frank’s global report, residential prices in Budapest grew by 19% y-o-y in Q3 2018, registering the third largest growth rate in the world. Zagreb also registered a growth rate above 10%.

In Greek mythology, Icarus flew too near to the sun, melting the wax on his wings and he plunged into the sea. According to Colliers International’s new research, this might be a correct analogy for the current state of the construction markets in CEE.

International Campus Group, a developer, investor and operator of innovative living environments for young people, has appointed Rainer Nonnengässer as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2019. The student housing and micro living expert has more than 20 years’ experience across the finance and real estate sectors. Rainer was most recently the CEO of Youniq, and previously held roles as the CEO of Micro-living at MPC Capital, which operates student apartments under the Staytoo brand, and as a Managing Director at AXA Real Estate.

Unissu.com has today launched its platform to the property industry. The business, which has classified over 6000 PropTech businesses from around the world, aims to help property professionals navigate the ongoing digital transformation of the industry. Property Forum is the exclusive regional partner for Unissu in Central & Eastern Europe – Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.