Not surpirngly, the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic has driven up interest in the acquisition of holiday homes. Marcin Dumania, CEO of Polish holiday apartment operator Sun & Snow talked to Property Forum about the holiday apartments industry’s struggles with the pandemic, forecasts for the upcoming months and the company’s investment plans.

Gavin Bonner, Vice President at Genesis Property spoke to Property Forum about the IMMUNE ™ Building Standard, a global certification standard to certify the built environment’s level of immunity to withstand present and future health challenges.

During the pandemic, banks continued to finance ongoing commercial real estate projects but they are more careful with financing new ones, looking for higher corporate credentials and imposing more restrictive conditions to fulfil. Monia Dobrescu, Partner at Romanian law firm Mușat & Asociații talked to Property Forum about the pandemic’s effects on client relationships and provided market insight from the legal advisor’s perspective.

Ferenc Kis-Szölgyémi, CEO of B+N Reference Zrt., a CEE-based facility management provider, spoke with Property Forum about the company’s recent international expansion and shared his vision for further growth.

Sorin Dumitrașcu, Country Director, Atenor Romania, talked to Property Forum about the sale of the company's first office project in Bucharest and the decision to expand its investment portfolio in the high-end residential niche.  

Piotr Trzciński, Head of Investment – Poland at Savills Investment Management talked to Property Forum about the changes forced by pandemic on the investment market, financing conditions and the long-term strategies of major international players.

Hungary-based Alfa Group plans to raise approximately HUF 10 billion in its first Green Bond issue scheduled for October 2021. Ohad Epschtein, Managing Partner of Alfa Group International talked to Property Forum about the importance of sustainability and he also shared some details about the company’s expansion strategy.

Will Robson, Executive Director and Global Head of Real Estate Solutions Research at MSCI, talked to Property Forum about the assessment of environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators in commercial real estate and its emerging role in the risk management of organizations.

Oxford Economics, one of the sources of CBRE Research, predicts a GDP growth of 6.9% for Romania, most likely the highest in the CEE region. With this in mind, it is clear that we are heading towards a fast-paced recovery. Luiza Moraru, Head of Property Management CEE at CBRE shared some facts and figures on investment market trends and talked about the growing activity of local investors on the Romanian market.

Poland's private rental sector is expanding significantly with large players announcing new projects almost every month. Roee Shamir, Managing Director of Aurec Capital Poland shared with Property Forum his insights on the rapidly developing PRS market.