The commercial real estate market, together with many other economic areas, after being impacted heavily by the Covid pandemic, is undergoing recovery. These positive indicators are also mirrored in the retail real estate sector. Recent figures indicate that retail parks and convenience centres are recovering strongly as are discount shops, while large shopping centres are reporting increasing footfall levels, optimistic economic outlook; these are the key highlights from Q3 of the year. The analysis of the retail real estate sector was prepared by experts from BNP Paribas Real Estate.

Property Forum is excited to announce the winners of its first-ever SEE Property Forum Awards. The winners of each category were selected by our jury committee, comprising the crème de la crème of the Romanian real estate industry. The awards, celebrating the best projects, most impactful transactions and most inspiring personalities of the Romanian market, were presented at our Awards Gala and Exclusive Networking Party in Bucharest last night, part of our annual SEE Property Forum conference.

Investment in European property continued to gain momentum in Q3 with the return of big-ticket deals in major markets across the region, according to the latest market snapshot for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) released by Colliers International. Leading cities including London, Milan, Paris and Frankfurt saw major single-asset deals in the July-September quarter, as investor confidence rebounded further from a slow start to the year. Prime office assets located in the centres of national capitals remained the major draw for investors seeking secure repositories of value.

Companies have signed more new leases agreements and are keen to use ''flex'' spaces before taking up their target office space. The decreasing activity of developers has helped to stabilise the vacancy rate q-o-q, but its high level poses a challenge for landlords. JLL summarizes the Warsaw office market at the end of Q3 2021.

Nooka Space start-up has announced the launch of the largest network of smart proximity offices in Romania, in Cluj-Napoca. 

Total demand on Budapest’s office market reached 81,500 sqm in Q3 2021, representing a 17% decrease quarter-on-quarter, but a 3% increase year-on-year. New leases overpowered regarding the share of total leasing activity with 60%, reveals fresh data by the Budapest Research Forum.

S Immo will further expand its Hungarian portfolio. The company is planning to develop a 40,000 sqm project on the Váci Road office corridor.

Belgian WDP, the developer of industrial and logistics projects, says it has ongoing investments of around €102 million in several Romanian cities with deliveries expected by the first quarter of 2022.

Romanian property holding Meta Estate Trust says it has invested €500,000 in the first phase of residential project The Lake Home from Sibiu. 

Roger Andersson, Managing Director of Vastint Poland talked to Property Forum about the accelerating residential property prices, faith in hotel investments in Poland, and constantly rising construction costs.