New furniture. Everything is neatly organized. Everything is in its place. And it is extremely tidy. New offices tend to look as if they are images in a catalogue or a photorealistic visualisation delivered by an architect – but this only lasts for a short while. It takes no more than a few weeks for slow, yet inevitable changes to begin creeping into a new office. As the lease term passes, the office acquires a life of its own: it is an organism straining to adapt to the dynamic movements of people, things and activities that fill it and shape the space.

Rents remained stable on the Budapest commercial property market in H1 2018, according to the last survey of the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) and RICS. The typical yield level decreased by roughly 25 basis points to 6% for prime offices and 7.5% for industrial/logistics properties. Respondents anticipate an increase in demand for investments in most market segments for H2 2018, particularly in the case of prime office and industrial/logistics properties.

The Polish retail market maintains its momentum despite the partial Sunday trading ban. This year’s supply is expected to hit approximately 490,000 sqm, the highest annual level in the last three years. Of that total, 52% will be delivered in cities a population of more than 400,000 while 42% will be handed over in cities with a population of less than 100,000, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest report.

At the beginning of October, the total value of real estate investment transactions completed in Poland year-to-date exceeded €5 billion which is comparable to 2017's total. JLL analysed this year’s investment transactions conducted in the commercial real estate sector in Poland.

On 6 November 2018, Property Technology Forum Europe 2018, a conference and networking event for the proptech industry and real estate professionals from all over Europe will be held in Warsaw. Nearly 200 guests will come together in the Polish capital to discuss the future of the real estate industry and to explore the latest innovations in the profession. The mission of the event is to create a common ground for true collaboration between proptech startups, property professionals and occupiers.

Despite geopolitical uncertainty and a slowing in the economic cycle, investment in the global property market has seen a significant rise of 18% year-on-year to a new record high of $1.8 trillion (2017: $1.5 trillion), according to the report of Cushman & Wakefield, which examines global commercial real estate investment activity, assessing cities by their success at attracting capital.

The competitive advantages and strengths of the CEE region are well known to investors. But new factors have emerged that may play a central role in the medium and long-term. For example, there is a marked shift from cost efficiency to quality and knowledge-based operations across all sectors of the CEE economy. How is the tenant structure in CEE changing? Does growth in the BSS sector show any signs of slowing down? How do the legal and fiscal structures in CEE countries compare to those in Western Europe? All the answers to these and other important questions can be found in this year’s CEE Investment Report 2018: New Frontiers of Growth by Skanska, CBRE, Dentons and PwC.

Short and long-term European rates are expected to be benign for the foreseeable future limiting any negative impact on property markets, despite news of the recent bond sell-off in the US which could signify an end to the very low interest rate environment that has dominated the current property cycle. Strong occupier expansion, low vacancy rates and limited development pipelines have supported a gradual shift in market conditions to favour landlords, resulting in rental growth and stability across the majority of European markets during 2018. This has supported property values and returns, despite yields being at their cyclical peak, a situation likely to continue into 2019. That’s according to Colliers International’s latest Capital Flows Report, released at Expo Real.

What is the size of the e-commerce marketplace in the CEE region? How much more might online sales activity grow in the coming years? What are the implications for the demand for the logistics and retail real estate arenas in the CEE-6 countries? The latest research by Colliers International assesses these key questions that will shape the marketplace for real estate space in these sectors going forward. 

Land in Bucharest continued to attract the interest of real estate developers this year, considering that in the first nine months of 2018, lots with a cumulated surface of over 60 hectares on which around 8,000 dwellings, 180,000 square meters of offices as well as commercial spaces can be developed, according to an analysis of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.