Savills recorded 40 transactions closed in 2023 in the Czech commercial real estate sector with a total investment volume of €1.2 billion. Investment volume in 2023 was down 32% in comparison to 2022. 31% of investment transactions in 2023 were closed in Prague.

A record number of new brands entered the Czech retail market last year. In the past ten years, since Cushman & Wakefield has been closely monitoring this activity, none equalled the 2023 list of 39 new retail brands.

State-owned Polski Holding Nieruchomości (PHN) is starting construction of the Vena office building in Warsaw's Wola district. Construction work will take two years and the estimated investment cost is around PLN 200 million.

CPI Property Group has appointed CBRE as manager of its Stop Shop retail park portfolio in Serbia, which comprises 14 retail parks in 14 cities and more than 120,000 sqm of leasable area. CBRE will provide integrated asset management solutions, including financial and property accounting services, leasing services, and will oversee all operational aspects of the property and tenants.

German logistics company Thomas Duvenbeck Immobilien took over the logistics complex ARETE Park Rokycany II near Pilsen in the Czech Republic for use in December 2023. It will become the company's largest consolidation centre in Europe.

The “2% Safe Mortgage” housing loan subsidy programme introduced by Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) party has caused housing prices in Poland to shoot into space. However, the new government in Warsaw cannot abolish it, as a spike in demand could shake up the entire domestic property development industry.

The owner of the Arkády Pankrác shopping centre in Prague, Atrium Pankrác, is being bought by the Czech real estate fund Trigea from the Partners group. The transaction is now being assessed by the Office for the Protection of Economic Competition (ÚOHS), e15.cz reports.

Romanian developer Nordis Group has inaugurated its hotel & residence project Hotel Nordis Mamaia 5 ***** following an investment of around €100 million.

Western Europe has been witnessing several city-in-the-city concepts and CEE is following suit. There are good examples across the continent but this special type of development needs meticulous preparation and high-class execution. Property Forum asked Zoltán Petrik, Head of Sales and Real Estate Development at EB Hungary Invest Ltd. about the most important challenges of preparing and materialising such complex projects.

Indotek is transferring the management of the Gordius Private Equity Fund to fellow Hungarian investor Diófa Fund Management, which will also take over the Belgrade office portfolio held by Indotek, Portfolio.hu reports. Indotek Group said it will use the funds released by the portfolio restructuring to finance domestic and international acquisitions. The company also announced that it had acquired a significant part of the Vörösmarty shopping complex in Budapest at the end of the year.