As we are nearing the end of the cycle and investors are looking to diversify their portfolios, student housing’s counter-cyclical nature is becoming increasingly attractive. Samuel Vetrak, CEO of Bonard, talked to Property Forum about recent developments on the European student housing market. Samuel will also chair a panel discussion on student housing at the upcoming CEE Property Forum 2019 in Vienna.

FLE GmbH, a company of the LFPI group, has acquired its eighth property in Budapest on behalf of the Luxemburg based fund FLE SICAV FIS.

Blackstone announced the final close of its latest global real estate fund, Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX. BREP IX has $20.5 billion of total capital commitments — the largest real estate fund ever raised. Blackstone is also currently investing two regional opportunistic funds, the €7.9 billion BREP Europe V and the $7.2 billion BREP Asia II.

The office space market in Prague is currently doing very well and has a great potential for further development. Its excellent condition is illustrated by several parameters that Cushman & Wakefield has been monitoring on a long-term basis and whose correct interpretation in relation to the current results is presented here. These indicators are primarily the highly positive trend in the office demand (the occupied office space increased by 47,000 sqm), vacancy rate remaining at its record-breaking low (with just 4.6% of stock being vacant) and the highest number of newly opened buildings in the last five years (17 buildings including 11 newly built ones).

Those districts of Warsaw which can be reached by metro are becoming more attractive, according to JLL’s latest report. Can Bemowo match the rapid development taking place in Wola and Praga Północ?

Panattoni Europe has opened the largest manufacturing facility in its portfolio and the largest plant manufacturing household appliances in Europe – a dishwasher factory for BSH Sprzęt Gospodarstwa Domowego. The facility dedicated to Industry 4.0 was built in Łódź – next to the Central European Logistics Hub – taking up 57,000 sqm. The official opening took place on 10 September, 10 months after the acquisition of the site. The factory neighbours on the BSH Logistics Centre and the upcoming Panattoni Appliance Park, developed specifically to serve BSH’s manufacturing facility.

Kraków’s total office stock amounts to nearly 1.35 million sqm. According to reports from developers, more than 110,000 sqm is expected to be completed by the end of 2019, pushing this year’s new supply up to a record high of 200,000 sqm, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Poland has maintained its dominant position in the investment market in Central and Eastern Europe with the highest diversity and liquidity of products and diversity of investors. Demand remained high in all sectors, but office transactions were clearly dominant.

According to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor, CEE countries – most notably the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania – are still global leaders in occupier and investment sentiment. The Central European region’s most mature market, Austria is on a different path, however, with respondents reporting a broadly flat outlook.

Property Forum and RICS are organizing the seventh edition of CEE Property Forum this September. Just like in previous years, leading decision-makers in real estate will come together in Vienna to discuss the future of the industry. CEOs, influential investors, bankers, developers, fast-growing proptech start-up founders, architects and valuers will analyse the potential of the CEE property market from a global perspective, providing an excellent networking opportunity.