According to new data from Savills, Rotterdam is the most attractive port in Europe for logistics investment, coming in ahead of Barcelona, Valencia, Antwerp and Hamburg. Gdańsk, the largest seaport in Poland and one of the key container terminals in the Baltic Sea, may soon become one of the most modern in Europe thanks to Central Port project planned.

A new record level of modern industrial, office and retail projects is expected to be delivered in 2020, as developers announced projects of over 1.2 million square meters, according to the latest Bucharest City Report published by JLL.

According to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor, occupier and investment sentiment remains mostly positive across main CEE markets with the exception of Bulgaria where the outlook is slightly negative. Retail continues to suffer across the region as demand for retail assets fell on both the occupier and investment sides of the market in most countries.

Local investors continue to dominate the Czech property market as new family offices, private wealth and retail funds continue to establish and expand. Colliers International published its Q4 2019 investment, industrial and office market overview of the Czech Republic.

In 2019 the volume of property investment transactions on the Hungarian market decreased slightly in comparison with the previous year (€1.75 billion), however, the total value of transactions has been higher than €1.5 billion every year since 2016. There was a strong and stable demand for office and retail properties, with the volume of hotel sales also increasing significantly, according to Eston International’s H2 2019 investment market report.

CPI Property Group published its unaudited profit and credit estimates for the financial year ended 31 December 2019.

In the last five years, the Romanian real estate market has attracted over 20 new investors from all over the world, the most active of them making acquisitions with a total value of approximately €1.5 billion, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Over 250 buildings and real estate projects in Romania have been certified as ‘green buildings’ after one of the international sustainable schemes, BREEAM, LEED, EDGE and WELL, according to data by green building consultant BuildGreen.

According to JLL, CEE's real estate investment volume for 2019 hit €14.0 billion. Poland registered over 55% of this total (€7.7 billion) and was followed by the Czech Republic (€3.1 billion), Hungary (€1.7 billion), Slovakia (approx. €770 million), and Romania (approx. €683 million).

Business confidence among Polish construction companies tumbled early this year, with the heaviest burden, as perceived by the enterprises, coming from labour costs and tax levies. Decline in confidence is chiefly due to such factors as an over 15% increase in the minimum wage and a 10% hike in social insurance contributions faced by sole traders operating in the construction industry. On top of that, large construction businesses are required to conduct Employee Capital Schemes (PPK) or the alternative solution of Employee Pensions Schemes (PPE).