The decline in investment volume, which has been recorded this year in all sectors of the commercial real estate market in Poland, is particularly visible in the office segment. Despite the relative recovery that was observed at the end of the summer, the total value of the transaction volume recorded in Q1-Q3 2023, amounted to only ca. €1.7 billion, with merely ca. €267 million allocated in office assets. However, in this time of slowdown, there is also room for success. Avison Young's investment team can boast of approximately one-third of completed transactions in this sector - both in terms of volume and number of transactions.

The Hexagon Group, controlled by Romanian entrepreneur Florin Mariș, has purchased a land plot spanning close to 7 hectares in Cluj-Napoca. The buyer plans to develop an urban regeneration project on the former industrial site. The value of the transaction was not made public.

Compared to other cities, gross yields in Budapest, calculated from purchase prices and revenue from rent, are among the highest, which means the Hungarian capital is still a great destination for those investing in residential property. While the prices of apartments have skyrocketed in recent years in Hungary, residential property in Budapest is still quite inexpensive according to a joint study made by local developer Wing and research centre Eltinga.

Romanian developer Iulius is closer to kick off the construction of a mixed-use project in Cluj-Napoca after relocating a manufacturing facility in another part of the city. The Carbochim plan was relocated and upgraded following an investment of €5 million.

Heimstaden Poland has obtained a loan of €47.2 million from Santander Bank Polska. The funds will be used to refinance the company's first two projects: Bokserska and Grzybowska, which are completed and fully leased. A total of 566 high-quality apartments for rent were built as part of both investments, the company announced on LinkedIn.

BIG CEE and RC Europe have reached an agreement on the sale and purchase of two retail parks in Serbia, NEST Obrenovac and Nest Kraljevo. The transaction was facilitated by CBRE, the buyer announced.

S Immo successfully concluded the disposal of the Eurocenter office building in Zagreb, Croatia. In addition to offices, the Eurocenter also includes a bank branch and a café and has a gross lettable area of around 9,000 sqm. The transaction of the centrally located and well communicated mixed use office building with an asset value of €26.5 million to buyer Atlantic Grupa d.d. was carried out by way of a share deal.

CPI Property Group (CPIPG) announced the signing of an agreement concerning the disposal of the ski resort business in Crans Montana in Switzerland. It is a binding agreement for the sale of part of the shares to an American mountain resort company Vail Resorts. The gross transaction value is more than CHF 100 million (€105 million).

Galeria Tarnovia in Tarnów has been bought by a London-based European investment company. The mall has about 17,000 sqm of leasable space (36,500 sqm of total space). The price has not been disclosed. 

The panel discussion on the future of asset and property management, held as part of the Future of Real Estate 2023 conference in Warsaw, showed that proper management and use of data can be key to maintaining the value of real estate assets in tougher investment times. The November event was co-organized by Property Forum and RICS.