The volume of land transactions for commercial and residential projects totaled €800 million in 2021, which is a 15-year high, according to real estate consultancy Colliers. Retailers and residential developers have generated roughly 90% of the deals. 

CTP’s founder Remon Vos has been listed as the second wealthiest Dutch person on the annual Quote 500 list with an estimated net worth of €5.7 billion, just behind Heineken heiress Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken. The story of CTP, a company with a market cap of €7.7 billion, is a prime example of how tapping into CEE’s untapped potential helped create a dynamic real estate empire.

Following years of turmoil in retail, 2022 will bring rental growth and increased investment capital to the sector across Europe, according to Savills.

Immofinanz announced its new Net Zero Emission Strategy. Plans call for a reduction of 60% (below the 2019 level) in all greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 – and by 2040, the company intends to be emission-free along the entire value chain.

Bucharest's Mayor Nicușor Dan said that the city needs a “correct urban development”, while the permitting process for property investments will be updated to include tougher criteria that have to be met by developers.

Immofinanz has recently received takeover offers from both CPI Property Group and S Immo in the latest chapter of the Austrian takeover saga. During the last couple of years, the three major Austrian real estate companies – Immofinanz, CA Immo and S Immo – have received (and usually rejected) numerous takeover offers with mergers in almost every possible combination also having been discussed. To help its readers keep track, Property Forum has put together a timeline of all the offers that were announced since 2014.

Properties in the mountain tourist areas have become more interesting for investors, according to a report by Savills, with demand having grown significantly in the first quarter of this year. 

Romania is expected to see only moderate growth on the horizon. Serbia, having recorded the biggest expansion of almost 100% in the 2014-2020 period, is foreseen to plateau in the upcoming years, according to the Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association’s 2021 Winter Construction Forecast Report.

Residential investment sectors are gaining traction across Europe, with the volume of capital targeting student accommodation, the private rented sector and purpose-built age-targeted housing continuing to rise, according to Knight Frank’s European Residential Investment Survey 2022.

Climate change presents new challenges for the real estate sector but also an opportunity to get ahead of the competition. The topic was discussed at Balkans Property Forum 2021, Property Forum’s annual event in Belgrade.