More real estate deals will be closed once central banks start to cut interest rates, while Romania is still seeing investment geared towards sustainability in its commercial and residential sectors, concluded speakers of the dealmakers panel of Property Forum’s Spring Networking Party, held in Bucharest.

The headline RICS Global Commercial Property Sentiment Index (CPSI) for Q1 2024 stands at -10 which is the least downbeat reading since Q2 2022. In addition, the less negative tone across the aggregate results is coming through both on the occupier and investor sides of the market.

Banks are starting to ask from the first stage about the sustainability targets of real estate projects, while EU rules are shaping the reporting framework, concluded speakers of the construction and property development panel of Property Forum’s Romania ESG Forum held in Bucharest.

Professional mobility, internal migration, issues related to adaptation in a new country, search for flexible housing solutions while waiting for better availability of mortgage loans - these are the current challenges for the rental market in Poland. Is the PRS sector responding to these new social phenomena, and how? Resi4Rent presented the results of its latest survey.

Bratislava Research Forum has announced the results of office market figures for Q1 2024. Data are showing stable results and the good news is that more than 40% of the stock is sustainable and green-certified.

The changing dynamics of office utilisation and the need to balance efficiency and collaboration are hot topics not only for employers but for office providers as well. Resistance of employees returning to the office environment is still both a concern and a challenge. Office investments and a new age of working were the main discussion points at a dedicated panel of Prague Property Forum 2024.

According to data from Colliers, a trend called shell & core is gaining momentum in the Czech Republic. This is a strategy of constructing and building out industrial buildings to the stage of providing basic structures and infrastructure.

In 2024, the total investment volume in Poland amounted to €364 million, marking the weakest result for the first quarter in recent years. Interestingly, 25% of the invested capital comes from Polish investors. The warehouse sector remains the leader, accounting for 38% of the total investment volume. Unchanged, the vast majority of office transactions took place in Warsaw, while commercial investments were dominated by retail parks. Additionally, the market also saw two transactions in the residential sector in Warsaw, and two hotels were sold in seaside tourist cities, says Paulina Brzeszkiewicz-Kuczyńska, Research and Data Manager at Avison Young.

The 4-day workweek is becoming an increasingly hot topic. Although in Poland it still appears to be a thing of the future, recent years have shown how quickly labour market trends are changing. AI is also broadly expected to have a significant effect on the workplace. BNP Paribas Real Estate experts are wondering, how will all of this impact the commercial real estate market.

What are the challenges of attracting foreign capital in the Czech real estate market? Is the Czech market overpriced? What about yields, are they accurately projected? And last but not least, is the more expensive land always better? Top Czech dealmakers have discussed these topics during the second panel discussion at Prague Property Forum 2024.