The Managing Director of JLL Czech Republic expects a fairly quiet year in 2023 in the investment market. But in the industrial market, next year should be a strong one due to continued steady demand, says Andrew Peirson in an interview with Property Forum.

Recent data from Arnold Investments show that around €152 billion was transacted on the EU real estate investment markets in the first three quarters of 2022. Year-on-year, this represents a decline of around 4% due to a strong first quarter. However, investment activity slowed down sharply in the course of the year. At roughly 39 billion, the transaction volume for the third quarter was around 39% lower than in the previous year. The main EU investment markets analyzed show a significant decline in transaction volumes both over the course of the year and in the third quarter.

According to the results of the survey conducted by Colliers among consumers from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, respondents indicated that they would spend less or the same amount of money on food and gifts (50% and 74%, respectively) when compared to the pre-pandemic year 2019. Thanks to high inflation, the money will not stretch quite as far as in previous years. The survey also showed an increased awareness of the problem of food waste - reducing the amount of groceries bought for this reason was declared by Hungarians (24%), Poles (18%) and Romanians (16%).

UDI Group, an international development group with Czech roots, is planning a massive construction in Belgrade, Serbia. It plans to build the Duga project with 2,320 apartments and 40,000 sqm of offices on the site of a former factory for almost €392 million. Construction is expected to start next year, UDI Group reported.

MDC2 has appointed Martin Healey, a senior global property executive, to its Board. He is a senior international real estate investment professional with almost 25 years of experience. Martin is the Managing Director of Real Assets, and a member of the Global Leadership Team of CPP Investments, a global investment management organization.

Average asking prices of new and old apartments in Romania fell by 0.2% in November compared to the previous month to €1,704 per sqm, with Constanța, Iași and Cluj-Napoca recording slight gains of prices, according to Imobiliare.ro. 

German HR Group has taken over the Vienna House Easy Airport Bucharest near Henri Coanda Airport as part of a wider deal that involved the purchase of all Vienna House properties from Vienna House Capital and U City. 

NEPI Rockcastle, through its subsidiary, has acquired all the issued shares in the Forum Gdańsk shopping centre from a company ultimately owned by Blackstone-managed funds. The transaction encompassed the repayment of all the asset’s outstanding debt. Forum Gdańsk is a 63,500 sqm GLA shopping centre, situated in Gdańsk, the sixth largest city in Poland by population, with over 470,000 inhabitants.

Berlin-based property developer firm Bauwert AG is entering a strategic partnership with Hungary’s Wing Group, as well as international investment & asset manager Griffin Capital Partners. For this purpose, the three companies signed an agreement under which Wing and Griffin will together acquire 60% of Bauwert’s shares. The remaining 40% will be kept in the ownership of the existing shareholders. Wing Group will have a controlling interest in the company.

Immofinanz is acquiring 17,305,012 shares in S Immo AG from its core shareholder, CPI Property Group, thus obtaining a controlling stake in S Immo of 50% plus one share. The purchase price amounts to €337.5 million or €19.5 per S Immo share. The transaction will be financed through a long-term credit facility provided to Immofinanz by CPIPG. The share purchase agreement was signed on 19 December 2022. The closing of the transaction will take place before the end of 2022. Consequently, Immofinanz will fully consolidate S Immo in the 2022 annual financial statements.