The Budapest office market vacancy rate has decreased to 8.6% in Q2 2017, which is the lowest rate ever on record.  Renewals were the major driver of the leasing activity while no new buildings were completed in the quarter. The Budapest Research Forum published its newest figures.

According to Savills, the total volume of commercial property investment transactions concluded Q2 2017 in Poland exceeded €1 billion. Investor activity is high, driven mainly by portfolio transactions. 

TREI Real Estate, the property estate arm of the German Tengelmann Group, successfully sold a portfolio of 40 Spar leased supermarkets in Hungary to Erste Asset Management. 

Savills will advise in the recommercialisation process of Retail Park Karpacka in Bielsko-Biała. The investor of the retail scheme is Biuro Inwestycji Kapitałowych S.A.

With a 4.8%-GDP growth in 2016 and the highest estimated growth rate in 2017 among EU member states, Romania has become an increasingly attractive destination for regional operations centres. The tax and legal regimes along with the geographic location, as well as the highly yet not so costly labour force are some of the key ingredients contributing to the country’s attractiveness, according to the Recipe for successful tax, law & real estate of regional operations centres in Romania report prepared by Deloitte Romania, Reff & Associates- Deloitte Legal together with Knight Frank. 

JLL Bratislava has announced two mid-year promotions. Ján Bošácky has been appointed Head of Research with overall responsibility for market research and advisory services, whereas Samuel Šporka, Head of Industrial Agency and Tenant Representation, has been promoted to Associate Director. 

On 19 September 2017 the fifth edition of CEE Property Forum, organized by Property Forum in partnership with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) will gather leading real estate professionals and top executives from Central & Eastern Europe to analyse the potential of the regional real estate market from a global perspective. 70 speakers and more than 400 visitors will come together in Vienna, creating a unique networking opportunity. 

Mitiska REIM has announced a further strengthening of its footprint in the Romanian market with the successful acquisition of the Alpha Property Development portfolio. The acquisition of the portfolio consisting of 11 income producing retail parks and 3 development opportunities was made on behalf of Mitiska REIM’s institutional fund, First Retail International 2 (FRI 2). 

Apsys has secured the long-term refinancing of Posnania, its flagship project in Poznan, with Berlin Hyp AG, ING Bank Śląski S.A., Société Générale and Deutsche Postbank AG. This refinancing amounting to €260 million in total is one of the largest ever granted in commercial real estate in Central Europe. The project's initial financing during the development phase in 2014 already set a record in this area. 

Vastint Poland has appointed Hochtief Polska as the general contractor of the second phase of Business Garden Wroclaw. Under the contract, six office and service buildings with a total leasable area of approx. 79,000 sqm are to be built. Construction works will commence in July this year and will end in November 2019.