Wood is a building material that experts believe has a great future for many reasons. Firstly, it plays a significant role as a renewable material it is also a key in mixed-use buildings and contributes significantly to ESG or carbon neutrality targets. Thus, the demand for wooden buildings and prefabricated wooden products is not decreasing, quite the opposite, says Martin Skalický, Chairman of the Advisory Board at Progresus Invest Holding in an interview with Property Forum.

Cristina Dumitrache, Chief Business Development Officer at Rustler Property Services Romania, spoke to Property Forum about the launch of two new business lines, Brokerage & Consultancy and Project Management, that help the company offer integrated services to real estate companies, but also the role of a manager in mobilizing teams and innovative solutions for the industry.

Monia Dobrescu, Partner at Mușat & Asociații, spoke to Property Forum about real estate companies’ growing interest in alternative financing options and Romania’s tax framework for real estate investments.

Business and leisure travel is back in CEE, including Hungary, which makes investments more profitable than it was expected a year ago. Property Forum asked Silvija Lovreta, Senior Director of South Eastern Europe - International Hotel Development at Marriott International about the extensive development pipeline and ways the company meets environmental challenges. On behalf of Marriott's local partner for the development of the first Moxy hotel in Budapest, Forestay Group, Bálint Botos also commented on a few questions.

Sorin Preda, Founder and CEO of Global Vision spoke to Property Forum about industrial developments in major and secondary cities in Romania, alongside plans to integrate office and manufacturing lines across the company.

Real estate market players are starting to recognise the importance of data but finding the right way to collect, analyse and utilise it is still often a challenge. Matej Leskovar, Managing Director at Slovenia-based software solution provider Imagine d.o.o. talked to Property Forum about this topic in detail.

Alexandros Diamantis, Managing Director of Medcity spoke with Property Forum about the company’s investments in Romania that reached €30 million to date and the new cities that have potential for new healthcare real estate developments.

As it was announced in April, JLL will soon transfer most of its existing business lines to iO Partners in Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. US-based real estate private equity fund manager Michael Stanton, Founder of iO Partners, talked to Property Forum about the details of the deal and shared the new company’s plans for the future.

Andreea Păun, Managing Partner of Griffes, spoke with Property Forum about the outlook of rents and new office developments in Bucharest as well as the demand trends. This year, Griffes aims to close 10% more leasing deals with a combined value of more than €20 million.

The number of foreign investors that will appear in Slovakia depends on several key factors like the stability of the country, the availability and price of labour, and the cost of utilities and only then by the real estate market’s specifications, said Martin Varačka, Partner at Space Brokers SK in an interview to the Property Forum.