Student accommodation has become popular among investors in some Western European cities, but there is an almost complete lack of this investment product in the CEE region. Colliers International has released a recently conducted research analysis that explores the current status of student housing in the Czech Republic and the future prospects of this sector that could attract both domestic and foreign investors.

AFI Europe Romania has signed a letter of intent for the sale of three of its five office buildings located in AFI Park Bucharest. According to a company report, the letter of intent has been signed in June. AFI Europe wants to sell buildings 1, 2 & 3 of the complex with the option of selling AFI Park 4 & 5 to the same buyer. The name of the possible buyer has not been revealed. 

TriGranit has announced that a preliminary agreement has been entered into to sell the Bonarka City Center in Krakow, to Rockcastle, a property company investing in retail centers in Central and Eastern Europe. The financial closure of the transaction will take place in the following months.

Rockcastle Global Real Estate has acquired three regional shopping centres in Poland for a total of 522 million euros. Bonarka City Center in Kraków, Focus Mall in Zielona Góra and Focus Mall Piotrków Trybunalski will be added to the South African fund’s portfolio.

Appeninn has purchased a property in the Rózsadomb area of the 2nd district of Budapest. The company has signed a lease agreement for 6 years with Pénzügykutató Alapítvány (Financial Research Foundation) regarding the over 800 square meters large office.

Investment into Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (excluding Russia) for H1 2016 registered a substantial increase (59%) compared to same period of last year, surpassing €5 billion. Expectations are that for the entire year, investment volumes will reach and exceed the record volumes of 2015 with all CEE countries expected to perform strongly, says CBRE.

International real estate advisor Savills, on behalf of Aviva Investors has sold a Small Business Unit type warehouse and a 3.5 ha development land situated in Łódź Business Park. The buyer was industrial developer Panattoni Europe. 

Robust commercial real estate investment activity continued in Q2 2016 across the core Central European markets and reached EUR 2.6 billion, a 56% increase on Q1, according to Cushman & Wakefield. This has pushed volumes over the last twelve months to EUR 9.3 billion, close to 2007 record levels. 

Deutsche Hypothekenbank is acting as the sole lender to a real estate company, which is managed on behalf of four independent investors by Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate GmbH, for the purchase of the Prime Corporate Center office building in Warsaw. The financing volume amounts to € 40.5 million. In addition to this long-term investment financing, Deutsche Hypo is also providing a short-term bridging loan to cover the VAT element in the amount of € 14.2 million.

The Bulgarian investment market saw a number of positive developments during the first half of 2016, according to the latest Colliers’ report. Part of the good news is that for the first time since 2012, income-generating transactions prevailed (85%) over speculative (15%).