The first quarter of the year 2020, mostly starting with mid-February, was marked by ominous economic forecasts. Thus, some decline in construction activity was to be expected, and indeed newly started construction projects dropped to just over €1.3 billion in Q1 2020. This amounts to a 14% decrease compared to the equivalent period of 2019, according to the latest edition of the EBI Construction Activity Report for Romania.

Savills has examined the key trends set to determine future global real estate investment activity in a series of articles and interviews launched today as part of its Impacts research programme, where the international real estate advisor studies the various social, environmental, demographic and technological ‘tipping points’ immediately facing global real estate.      

A comprehensive outlook on the European property investment landscape as well as the current challenges and opportunities the valuation profession faces were discussed at the latest online event organised by Property Forum and RICS. We summarised the key messages of our two keynote speakers.

Romanian proptech start-up Bright Spaces, which develops a complete digital platform for showcasing and offering for office buildings and spaces, has been selected to join proptech accelerator Pi Labs in the United Kingdom. Pi Labs is the first venture capital firm in Europe to invest exclusively in proptech start-ups and Europe's most active investor in the field. Bright Spaces was chosen, along with 4 other European start-ups, out of a total of over 600 registered teams. The Romanian startup will enter a 15-week intensive program, with the objective of developing the product and scaling the company to the size and needs of the European office market.

The National Federation of Hungarian Building Contractors (ÉVOSZ) expects orders that were never placed in the last two months will be arriving in mid-June. 

CPI Property Group published an update on the Group’s efforts to flatten debt maturities, reduce gross leverage and fortify operating position.

Immofinanz expects a substantial improvement in rental income and the results of operations for the first quarter of 2020. The estimated increases range from 13.0% to 15.0% versus Q1 2019.

Reopening the office requires rethinking the daily experience and setting clear protocols for how everything in the office operates while managing the health and safety risks of our employees. How the returning to work is managed will be critical for employee health and well-being but also for the confidence in their employer and landlord, according to the latest data from CBRE.

As the first coronavirus cases were registered in Hungary at the beginning of March, the effect of the epidemic on first-quarter figures might have been smaller. The epidemic may affect the construction industry in two ways. Projects that have already started may stop or may continue at a slower pace and it may hold back the value of projects entering construction phase.  Results show that there was a massive decline in the value of completed projects already in Q1 2020. The value of the Activity Completion Indicator of the EBI Construction Activity Report in the domestic construction industry decreased by 29% due to the epidemic, and several hundred projects were delayed.

Property Forum’s next virtual event, CEE Valuation & Investment Forum 2020, will cover the most burning topics of property investment and valuation. Leading international experts will share their own experiences and best practices related to managing the unprecedented market situation that COVID-19 has created.