The sharp rebound of the Hungarian real estate investment market witnessed in H2 2015 has gained further momentum during the first half of this year. According to JLL the transaction volume of the first semester reached more than EUR 910 million, already more than during the full 2015 year, highlighting the increasing weight of capital targeting Hungarian assets.

Two-thirds of real estate markets globally have shown progress in levels of transparency over the past two years, according to JLL and LaSalle Investment Management’s 2016 Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI). The ten countries identified as “Highly Transparent” by GRETI account for 75 percent of global investments into commercial real estate, highlighting the extent to which market transparency drives real estate investment decisions. Poland registered an excellent result in this year’s index and stands just outside the top ten, while other countries in the CEE region have also improved their results.

Echo Investment has obtained a building permit for the construction of Galeria Libero, which is to be built on Kościuszki Street in the southern part of Katowice. The investor also concluded a contract with the city authorities concerning the road layout around the facility.

GTC has announced the acquisition of Neptun Office Center and Sterlinga Business Center, located in Gdańsk and Łódź respectively. These two Class A office buildings, featuring modern design and a total GLA of 30,000 sqm and 364 parking places, will enrich the Group’s Polish investment portfolio.

CTP has recently signed an agreement to purchase two logistics sites with a combined floor space of 66,000 square meters from Raiffeisen Group member DAV Property Kft. The new properties acquired using a loan from Raiffeisen Bank Zrt. have increased the total floor space of CTP’s warehouse facilities in Üllő to 100,000 square meters and that of its total Hungarian industrial property portfolio to 135,000 square meters. 

Prologis has signed a new lease agreement for 4,800 square metres with Inter Cars Hungária, the largest passenger and truck parts dealer in Central and Eastern Europe, at its DC7 building now under construction at Prologis Park Budapest-Sziget. CBRE facilitated the transaction.

Immofinanz is continuing the expansion of its STOP SHOP retail park chain at a fast pace: the 57th location was opened today in the Polish city of Szczytno. After Niš in Serbia and Świnoujście in Poland, this represents the third project completion in two months and the next locations have already been identified. A STOP SHOP will open in the Serbian city of Valjevo during early autumn, and in Poland preparations are underway for retail parks in Pultusk and Gdynia. These projects will raise the total number of STOP SHOPs to 60.

Last Thursday the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union which has triggered panic on financial markets. Players of the property market are also in shock all over Europe, eager to find out what Brexit means for the future of their investments. 

Prologis has announced that it will deliver a 34,200 square metre build-to-suit distribution facility at Prologis Park Prague-Rudná for Sportisimo, a Czech sporting goods retailer.

Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate GmbH (Warburg-HIH Invest) has finalised the Sales & Purchase Agreement for the office property Prime Corporate Center in the city centre of Warsaw. The transaction, which took the form of an asset deal, was carried out as a club deal for four separate accounts of German institutional investors. The property has been sold by the Warsaw-based developer Golub GetHouse. The buyer was represented in this transaction by Cushman & Wakefield.