Despite rising operating costs, high inflation, and uncertainties related to events such as the conflict in Ukraine, Central and Eastern European markets continue to be attractive compared to Western Europe. Daniel Bienias, Managing Director in CEE at CBRE, talked to Property Forum about investment trends and the future of the advisory business in the region and beyond.

Real estate investments are a great protection against inflation, especially compared to alternative asset classes. Michael Wagenhofer, Head of Capital Markets at Arnold Investments talked to Property Forum about investment trends.

How long will the cooling off in the investment market last? What are the main factors currently shaping demand? Which projects will banks lend money for today? In an interview with Property Forum, BNP Paribas Real Estate experts Małgorzata Fibakiewicz and Tomasz Arent summarised the current situation in the retail and warehouse sectors in Poland.

Marcin Malka, President of the Management Board of Real Management talked to Property Forum about competing with bigger players, the situation on the investment market in Poland and the lack of plots for new projects.

While net industrial take-up is down compared to 12-18 months ago, we are seeing a large uptick in enquiries across CEE for strategic production spaces across the automotive, pharmaceuticals, and electric vehicle battery production sectors. James Fitzgerald, Director, Head of Industrial Agency at iO Partners Czechia talked to Property Forum about the main drivers of the CEE industrial market.

While international investors remain cautious, local players from CEE remain actively engaged, opportunistically monitoring the market, and taking advantage of reduced competition. Gábor Zeller, Senior Director, Capital Markets at iO Partners Hungary, talked to Property Forum about key investment trends and shared his market expectations for the rest of the year.

Demand for modern industrial space is still considerably high though European manufacturing companies are not taking home their production as quickly as earlier expected. Meanwhile, Asian firms in the automotive industry are increasingly seeking proper warehouses and logistics service providers. Property Forum asked Máté Szoboszlay, Director of Capital Deployment at Prologis Hungary about the change in e-commerce-related demand and the special needs of Asian tenants.

Facility managers of large sports centres face mounting energy and labour costs too. But those costs can be lower if the property itself is enabled to host different kinds of events. Developers should involve all parties to reach that goal before the construction or in case of remodelling the building. Tibor Lak, Finance Manager of Budapesti Sportcsarnok Üzemeltető Kft., a subsidiary of Granit Polus, which has been running Budapest Arena, a huge multifunctional centre in the Hungarian capital, spoke with Property Forum about how to handle this problem.

A key to a successful property development is a responsible real estate development strategy which also takes into account accessibility, self-sustainability and biodiversity. Zsolt Hintenberger MRICS, Managing Partner at Realiscon talked to Property Forum about the different aspects of ESG compliance, going deeper than the usual buzzwords.

A recent increase in supply is providing buyers with a broader selection of opportunities across CEE. Martin Ofner, Head of Market Analysis at Arnold Investments, shared with Property Forum his investment outlook for the CEE region.