Global commercial real estate (CRE) investment reached US$407 billion in H1 2015, the strongest first half to a year since 2007, and up 14 per cent year-over-year, according to the latest research from global property advisor CBRE Group, Inc.

Last month, Cushman & Wakefield and DTZ merged under the Cushman & Wakefield brand. Jonathan Hallett (Managing Partner, Central Europe) and Gergely Pados (Managing Director, Hungary) talked to us about the merger, Cushman & Wakefield’s plans and the future of the Hungarian property market.

Corporate real estate (CRE) investment within Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) increased in Q3 by 14%, to a record €2.297 billion, with total yearly volume up 6% according to the most recent report on CEE property investment from CBRE.

International advisory company JLL presented its preliminary summary of investment transactions concluded in Q1-Q3 2015 on the commercial real estate markets across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

With the economic performance of countries in the region being better than expected, due to the general positive mood an increasing number of investors have been prompted to launch new projects, so much so that on a regional level, the expected expansion of the office market supply will exceed demand. The extent of new supply is expected to slow down the growth of rental fees, in fact, it may lead to their decrease in certain markets over the next three years. The Central European markets with the best performances will probably be Prague and Budapest.

Impressive turnover growth, increasing retailer demand and lack of new supply push rents up in Budapest retail market according to the new Hungarian Retail Market Report of CBRE global property advisor.

IMMOFINANZ, one of the principal real estate investors in Romania and the leading office building owner in Bucharest, announces several new partnerships and extensions of agreements with tenants in the local office sector, accounting for a total of over 21,000 sqm. The company has prolonged and extended existing contracts for over 19,000 sqm and has attracted new tenants for about 2,400 sqm in five of its class A office properties in Bucharest.

Which regional country presents the best opportunities for developers currently? Which market can be the best choice for investors? Which countries have a more challenging road ahead of them? These are the questions that regional real estate professionals tried to answer for us ahead of our CEE Property Forum 2015 conference in Vienna.

Would you have thought that many well know luxury brands have opened stores in Tirana before entering Budapest? This is especially interesting considering the fact that Hungary has a retail stock of 1.3 million square metres compared to 205 thousand square metres in Albania. Through our questions, Stela Dhami, Managing Partner at Colliers International Albania is introducing the property market of a country that is usually off the radar.

The RICS Commercial Property Monitor for Q2 2015 showed that most countries in Central and Eastern Europe have good growth prospects and the expectations for commercial property markets have further improved. Both, the Occupier Sentiment Index and the Investment Sentiment Index stands in positive territory in all four examined countries.