AFI Europe Romania has finalized and completely sold phase I of AFI City, the first residential project developed by the company in Romania. The first phase consists of 190 apartments and 228 parking lots, and is located in northern Bucharest, in the Bucurestii Noi neighborhood.

New housing has become more expensive in most European countries over the last years, including 2019. Among 23 countries participating in Deloitte Property Index Study, 20 showed growth in prices of new dwellings and only three of them saw a price decrease. Experts in the residential real estate market expected the growth trend to continue in 2020, but they became less optimistic in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, in almost half of participating countries, the residential market is expected to stagnate this year in terms of price and experts in only six countries have positive expectations.

The works for Speedwell’s newest project, Paltim, will soon kick off in the city of Timișoara. The demolition permit has been issued and the works are set to start in the first part of July 2020.

Cordia International Zrt., as part of its international expansion strategy, has recently acquired 93% of Warsaw listed Polish residential developer Polnord S.A. through a combination of capital increase and public tender offer that was closed on 9 of April 2020. Cordia will first report the effects of such acquisition in its half-year balance sheet but has provided guidance on its positive effects on Cordia’s equity capital.

Codic Hungary is embarking on the revitalisation of several listed buildings and their surroundings at Budapest’s Margit Boulevard. The developer plans to preserve the architectural values of a listed school building, a neglected listed building block and revive the surrounding green areas.

Aurec Capital Poland has acquired three residential buildings in Warsaw’s Praga Północ district with the intention of redeveloping them. 150 rental apartments and retail units will be built under the LivUp PRS brand. The redevelopment project is planned to be completed in early 2022.

The LivinnX Kraków student residence, developed by Golub GetHouse, has signed an agreement with Tauron, which includes the purchase of electricity obtained entirely from renewable sources, i.e. hydroelectric power plants and wind farms. LivinnX will use the electricity offered as part of the EKO Premium product, which is the only solution in Poland to have a Green Energy Sale Guarantee, confirmed by the Polish Association for Energy Certification.

After acquiring nearly 93% of stocks of Polnord listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, Cordia is one of the first companies to launch a new residential project in Poland following the alleviation of the pandemic. The company has started the presale of more than 200 homes being built in its first project in Gdańsk. Hungary’s leading residential developer is also active in Poznań, where it is preparing its largest-ever Polish residential investment with a large-scale urban rehabilitation. For the company, the Polish market is particularly important as it proved to be stable even during the years of the global crisis in 2008-2009.

Italian group FRI-EL Green Power, a renewable energy producer, plans to invest over €80 million in developing the Ateneo residential project in the Romanian city of Timișoara.

The pandemic has changed the way we live and work. We still do not know whether these changes will be temporary or permanent in nature and whether they will stay with us, even when the threat of the disease is behind us. The uncertainty of the new and unprecedented situation has impacted all real estate sectors to a lesser or greater extent. Sharing of space, which is one of the key principles underpinning co-living, appears to be the absolute opposite of pandemic isolation. Contrary to appearances, this type of accommodation where in addition to sharing space residents also share a set of interests and values may be an easier and more enjoyable way of staying in quarantine, especially for lonely people and those living far from their families. Małgorzata Dziubińska, Associate Director at Cushman & Wakefield, says about co-living in the new reality.