Metro Properties, the real estate subsidiary of Metro AG, has sold a property in Poznań with a retail building under a long-term lease to Castorama to French investor Corum Asset Management. The purchase price amounted to €20.3 million.

Zeitgeist Asset Management has purchased an office building at ul. Solec 22 in Warsaw and intends to convert into student halls. The office building has been acquired for a German pension fund from Solec 22 z.o.o.

In the first half of 2018, the total volume of modern office space at the main regional markets (Kraków, Wrocław, Tricity, Katowice, Poznań, Łódź, Szczecin and Lublin) exceeded 4,637,000 sqm. Analysts of Cushman & Wakefield report a high absorption level caused by intensified lessee activity in 2017 and pre-rental agreements of office real estate which is to enter the market this year. As a result, despite a large spike in office space supply, the vacancy rate has gone down.

Alicja Zajler joined Colliers International as Director in the Valuation and Advisory Department. Together with Ewa Czarnecka, Senior Partner and Director, Alicja will manage the department and set the course for its development.

Airbnb activity in Budapest shows strong growth in overnight stays in 2017, reaching almost 1.5 million, which represents an increase of 35% y-o-y. The top 3 neighbourhoods (District V, VI and VII) account for 69% of the total Airbnb bookings in Budapest, says the latest Budapest city report on Airbnb released by Colliers International and Hotelschool The Hague. All data is directly provided from Airbnb through AirDNA’s authentic source.

M7 Real Estate has recently sold three assets, Innovations Business Park in Budapest, Hungary and Sanitas Industrial Park and Uhrineves Industrial Park both located in Prague, Czech Republic, for a total of circa €24 million, delivering investors a strong increase in value.

In Central and Eastern Europe, hotel owners are experiencing record months in terms of average daily rates which was the primary driver of the double-digit RevPAR (Revenue per available room) growth recorded by central European cities in 2017. The growing trend was also seen in the first half of this year (H1 2018). The only exception was Warsaw where RevPAR dropped slightly due to declining occupancy, yet the prices of rooms increased as in other capitals. The higher room rates translated to notable gains in hotels’ profitability which brought significant interests from investors. The lack of hotel properties available for sale and shortage of development sites in prime locations is turning attention to conversions of existing buildings into hotels. As the demand continues to grow and the development pipeline remains limited in most markets (except for Warsaw and Vienna), profitability is expected to stay strong also in the coming years.

What will be the most well-performing investment products of the coming period? How does political risk factor into investment decisions? How many years of growth do we have left in the current cycle? These are some of the questions that members of the investment panel at CEE Property Forum 2018 answered.

Knight Frank formally opened a dedicated office in Budapest, becoming a fully branded Knight Frank business from 20 September 2018.

According to Colliers International’s EMEA Industrial & Logistics Hubs report, demand for industrial and warehouse property rose in 50% of EMEA markets in 1H 2018, up from 35% in 2H 2017, driven by strong occupier sentiment, and despite challenges in the overall economy such as protectionism fears and trade tensions between the US and close trading partners in the EU.