2017 was a year of dynamic growth on Romania’s real estate market and the stage is set for 2018 to bring just as strong results. Silviu Pop, Head of Research at Colliers International Romania put together 10 predictions for the Romanian market in 2018.

Total take-up on the Bratislava office market reached 84,000 sqm in Q4 2017, having tripled compared to the previous quarter. The vacancy rate continued to decline and reached 6.18%. The Bratislava Research Forum published its office market statistics for Q4 2017.

In 2017, investments in the Czech Republic totalled €3,274 million as indicated by a Cushman & Wakefield report. Contrary to expectations, they declined only slightly compared with 2016, which was a record year. The biggest transactions in 2017 included the sale of Olympia Brno, the CBRE GI portfolio (Nisa Liberec, Zlatý Anděl and Olympia Plzeň), Metropole Zličín and of the Letňany shopping centre.

Prologis announced a successful pilot with Platio, a Hungarian start-up that provides aesthetic and space-saving renewable energy systems by integrating high-performance solar cells into sidewalk paving elements made of recycled plastic. Prologis Park Budapest-Harbor has become the first logistics park in the world to integrate this green technology into its daily operations.

Property investment volume for Romania is estimated at almost €1 billion last year, a value ca.10% higher than the one registered in 2016 (€890 million). Romania accounted for 8% of the total investment volume recorded in the CEE region (€12.98 billion, a 3.3% increase over 2016). The growth of the Romanian market exceeds the increase of the CEE volumes, but the local market is still under its potential, according to JLL.

ZFP Investments, the Czech-based subsidiary of Slovak IAD Investments, has concluded the acquisition of the Kotlarska 11 office building in Kraków on behalf of ZFP Real Estate Fund. This marks the investor’s entry into the Polish market.

Romanian industrial and logistics gross take-up increased in 2017 by almost 15% to over 525,000 square meters, registering a new record level, JLL reports.

JLL has represented Grupa Buma on the sales transaction of the DOT Office complex. The project was acquired by Golden Star Estate, an Amsterdam-based investment firm. The value of the transaction is confidential.

Class A office buildings in the downtown areas of Gdańsk and Gdynia will finally become available for lease, complementing office provision on the outskirts of the Tricity agglomeration. Tenants are likely to move to new headquarters in more prestigious locations, says Michał Rafałowicz, Head for the Pomeranian Region at advisory firm Cresa Poland.

Prologis announced fourth quarter and full year 2017 activity in Europe. During the past year Prologis started 40 developments, totalling 917,500 square metres.