The office vacancy rate has decreased to 7.3%, representing a 0.2 pps reduction quarter-on-quarter - the lowest rate ever recorded on Budapest office market. The Budapest Research Forum published its latest figures.

Zeitgeist Asset Management, a company specializing in property development and asset management services for private and institutional investors, has expanded its portfolio by the acquisition of a new property for a German pension fund, administered by Institutional Investment Partners. The residential project is located in downtown Budapest.

Polish developer Katharsis Development sold a portfolio of five retail parks, recognized under the brand “HopStop”, to CPI Property Group. Disposal advisory was conducted exclusively by Apleona GVA.

Large sums are expected to be invested in property again by institutional investors worldwide in 2018. Based on its “Investment Intentions Survey 2018”, INREV expects around €51.1 billion to be invested in property this year. The largest share of this €51 billion will go to Europe (around 41.2 percent), followed by the USA (31.7 percent). The Asia-Pacific region (17.4 percent) is in third place.

Globalworth has announced the execution of a second loan agreement with its subsidiary, Globalworth Poland (GPRE). The loan is being made available to GPRE for a refinancing of the existing financial indebtedness of GPRE and its subsidiaries and the potential acquisition of two new assets currently under due diligence while offering a more flexible capital structure for the expansionary phase that GPRE is in.

Vaclav Jonas has been appointed Managing Director of the Prague office and is thus responsible for all asset and property management activities of CA Immo in the Czech Republic, including tenant support and retention. Vaclav Jonas will be supported by Jan Baxa, who took over the role of Head of Asset Management in the Czech Republic from April 2018, and Radek Poulicek, who joined the company as a Leasing Manager in March 2018.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) and Postbank (Bulgaria) will jointly provide €58.3 million (€32 million and €26.3 million, respectively) to help finance the construction of a Marriott hotel in Sofia, the first hotel of the international chain in Bulgaria. The 12-year loan will be extended to I Tower Development JSC, a special-purpose company set-up in Bulgaria. BSTDB acted as arranger of the deal. The operation aims at meeting the growing demand for high-quality business and tourist accommodation and conference facilities in the Bulgarian capital.

As a result of large portfolio transactions, the first quarter of 2018 on the Polish real estate investment market closed with a record investment volume of ca. €2.05 billion, according to Savills. Taking into account the number and volume of ongoing transactions, we may expect another very good year on the investment market.

CTP will deliver another logistics park in Cluj county by the end of this year. The 30,000 sqm CTPark Cluj II will be completed in three phases.

CTP is developing a 20,000 square meter warehouse for home appliances manufacturer Arctic in Cateasca, near Pitesti.