Colliers’ latest report finds that varying return-to-office approaches post-COVID, underlying fundamentals of city functionality, approaches towards ESG-compliance differences and how markets have reacted to shifts in inflation and interest rates have created a significant divergence in office investment volumes, pricing, and appetite globally. In Europe, vacancy sits at a steady 8.1% and office occupancy rates have returned mainly to pre-pandemic levels of 65% on average across Europe.

The total stock of modern retail spaces in Romania reached 4.11 million sqm in the first quarter of 2023 following the delivery of two new retail parks with a combined leasable area of 22,000, according to a report by CBRE. 

Proxenta's latest residential project, Kesselbauer, is being finalised these weeks. The luxury residence right in the centre of Bratislava has already completed all the construction works and only the landscaping in the courtyard remains. The project is now in the approval phase and the approval process is expected to be completed in a few weeks, real estate portal YIM.BA reports.

In 2023, the residential real estate market in Bulgaria is expected to remain calmer and more balanced than during the dynamic previous year. According to real estate agency Arco Real Estate, the forecast is for a slight cooling of interest due to factors such as inflation, the change, and the rise in mortgage rates, as well as the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Real estate market players are starting to recognise the importance of data but finding the right way to collect, analyse and utilise it is still often a challenge. Matej Leskovar, Managing Director at Slovenia-based software solution provider Imagine d.o.o. talked to Property Forum about this topic in detail.

The 12th JLL Charity Beach Volleyball Tournament of the Real Estate Industry will be held on August 3 at the Monta Beach Volley Club in Warsaw. The goal of this year's event will be to support the construction of the Ronald McDonald House at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute. Property Forum is a media partner of this event. 

ViaPharma has signed a 20-year lease agreement with the developer CTP for two Czech CTParks. CTP will prepare and hand over the premises, with a total area of almost 27,000 sqm and several specific modifications for the pharmaceutical industry, at the end of 2023.

The first phase of Skanska's H2Offices has earned a Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Core and Shell version 4 certification with 84 points, which is currently the highest score in Hungary. Based on its accessibility features, the building also obtained the highest rating of Access4You certification, meaning Gold level.

On the occasion of Property Forum’s Living Investment Forum 2023 and under the umbrella of the RICS CEE residential working group, an online survey was conducted among large residential developers and management companies from Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania with help from industry organisations and RICS professional network to get insight on what importance ESG considerations play in the residential sector in the CEE region. In the survey, 80% of respondents claimed that ESG is an important factor in their business decisions at the “strategy level”.

Metro Bulgaria opened its first renovated franchise site in Bulgaria under the name "My Store". The program is one of the main company projects – a soft franchise model that brings together independent traders under one brand.