The residential estate market in Bulgaria cooled down in Q2 2023, with a 15% decrease in the number of transactions compared to the same period in 2022. This was due to several factors, including rising interest rates on mortgage loans, inflation, and economic uncertainty. Buyers have become more prudent, not rushing into purchases, and often negotiating discounts ranging from 5% to 10% off the initial property sale price. These are the conclusions made by Arco Real Estate for Q2 2023.

In 2022, the value of transactions on the Polish commercial real estate market amounted to approximately € 5.8 billion, which showed that after the difficult years of the pandemic and the outbreak of conflict in the East, Poland turned out to be a stable market with a large group of investors interested in investing capital in our country and a wide range of attractive investment products. However, in the first half of 2023, we witnessed the previously expected investment slowdown. After six months of  2023, the total investment volume amounted to only around €800 million, which means a decrease of 70 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier, says Bartłomiej Zagrodnik, CEO of Walter Herz advisory agency.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Kyiv’s primary residential market has stalled for some time with the number of transactions in 2022 significantly decreasing. In 2023, however, most developers are observing positive trends and slow but steady growth. Iryna Nastych summarised the situation in an article prepared by the Ukrainian Real Estate Club for Property Forum.

During the JLL 12th Charity Real Estate Industry Beach Volleyball Tournament 2023, a record number of 58 teams from the real estate industry and related industries competed. The tournament was held on August 3 at the Monta Beach Volley Club in Warsaw, attracting more than 2,000 guests and raising PLN 810,000, which will be entirely allocated to the construction of the third Ronald McDonald House in Poland at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw. Property Forum supported the event as a media partner.

Real estate practitioners, mark your calendars for July 2024. A new real-time invoice reporting regime will be introduced in Poland, marking both a revolution and evolution in tax digitalization reporting. While technology is driving the implementation of the new rules, the potential benefits for the real estate sector are extensive. Zbigniew Deptuła, Partner, Global Compliance & Reporting and Paulina Faryn, Manager, Global Compliance & Reporting at EY Poland explain how these changes could impact businesses.

The volume of investment in the regional real estate market during H1 2023 was one of the lowest in Central & Eastern Europe. Poland accounted for most of the regional transaction volume at 42%, followed by the Czech Republic with 34%. Total transactions in the Czech Republic in H1 amounted to approximately €692 million, a 42% year-on-year decline and a 9% decrease compared to the same period in 2021. The retail sector saw growing demand, accounting for approximately 61% of transactions. In Q2 of this year, the volume of transactions in the Czech Republic reached €298 million, down 27% compared to the previous quarter, reports Colliers in the survey.

Bulgaria's real estate market in the first half of 2023 showcased a mix of stability, growth, and adaptability, according to the latest investment market overview from H1 2023, issued by Colliers. The main challenge for commercial real estate remains the ongoing business climate unpredictability.

In H1 2023, the total transaction volume in the CEE region decreased by 59% year-on-year. The current results in the property investment market may not appear very optimistic at the moment, but this is only a temporary situation, Avison Young reports.

The Prague office market proved its stability with a total modern office stock surpassing 3.85 million sqm by the end of Q2 2023. Despite no new office buildings being completed this quarter, ongoing construction projects are poised to add approximately 66,800 sqm of office space across seven projects by year-end. In tandem, the market is embracing the evolving demand for flexible workspace solutions, with four new flexible office centres inaugurated during this quarter, iO Partners reports.

In the second quarter of 2023, the total office stock in Bratislava represented 2.02 million sqm, unchanged from Q1 2023. 17% of total stock consists of class A+ office space, 38% of A class, and 45% of class B office space, reports the Bratislava Research Forum.