Cost of financing and capital availability are some of the core challenges this year for real estate companies in Europe, shows a Deloitte survey.

According to experts from Colliers, the Czech real estate market is facing several challenges this year.

The investments transaction market in Romania totaled around €500 million in 2023, down from a record of more than €1.2 billion in the previous year, in line with lower deal volumes that have been recorded across region and the major international markets, according to a Colliers Romania report.

Revenue generated by the top 40 construction companies operating in Poland grew in double digits in 2023, in nominal terms, for the third straight year, and it was mostly the effect of the overall substantial growth of construction costs. For these companies to continue to thrive, it is necessary to disburse the EU funding for Poland promptly, including all the funds available under the National Recovery Scheme and the cohesion policy budget for 2021-2027, says Spectis.

The past year has probably been the weakest since 2009 in terms of the volume of investments in real estate, both in the Czech Republic and throughout Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This conclusion has resulted from the KPMG Property Lending Barometer survey. It has involved representatives of 48 banks from 10 CEE countries.

The Romanian property market remains attractive for investments, with 65% of investors surveyed by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox saying they are looking to expand their presence in the local market.

The volume of commercial land sales in Romania excluding the industrial segment fell by less than 10% to €450 million during 2023 compared to the previous year, according to a Colliers report.

Uncertainty and volatility have been the two dominant trends shaping the commercial real estate market and buyer sentiment in recent months. However, according to the latest report from Cushman & Wakefield, the Polish market, whose fundamentals remain strong, is broadly expected to regain equilibrium. Change is being seen in the number and types of real estate transactions taking place – due to the constrained availability of safe prime assets for sale on the office market and high financing costs, investors seeking higher returns are turning their focus to higher-risk transactions. With retail footfall figures for large schemes back at satisfactory levels after the pandemic and attractive asset pricing, the retail market has become an interesting sector for bargain hunting. The warehouse and logistics sector continues to feature prominently on investors’ radars.

The first project of the charitable foundation Housing For IDPs - the Socialization Centre for IDPs for 19 families - will be opened in the Irpin community at the beginning of the year.

2024 will be a challenging year for many companies in the CEE real estate sector that will have to refinance their loans at new, increased costs. Those that need to redeem their corporate bonds in the coming quarters may also have a lot of problems.