Residential markets are on the rise all over Europe. There are barely any countries where prices haven’t begun to increase since the crisis. Property Forum took a closer look at the Central and Eastern European region, to see which countries have seen the highest growth. Croatia is one of the countries where prices began to grow later rather than sooner, but this means that it may become a new hotspot for investors looking to profit from house price growth in the region.

A new residential complex, comprising 1,000 apartments in four phases, is being built in the Domenii area of Bucharest, requiring a total investment volume of €80 million. The developer of the scheme is DVD Residential Imobiliare, owned by businessmen Dan Sucu (owner of Mobexpert Group) and Valentin Visoiu (owner of Conarg Group).

Following the expansion in Budapest, Krakow and Warsaw, Cordia has re-entered the Romanian capital with a 400 apartment development. Futureal Group’s residential subsidiary acquired 13 plots with a total area of 15,336 sqm in Bucharest where the project will be developed.

Skanska has acquired land in Prague, Czech Republic, from Codeco UK. The total investment amounts to CZK841 million (app. €31.1 million).

Israeli real estate developer AFI Europe plans to invest €200 million euro in the construction of a residential and shopping complex in Belgarde, the Serbian capital’s mayor Siniša Mali announced. 

The number of transactions on the Hungarian housing market totalled 128,386 last year, down by about 5% compared to 2015. This, however, is not a sign of a weak market, as it rather reflects an upturn in the sector for new homes. Buyers have been signing a huge number of pre-contracts directly with the developers and that will appear in the statistics only when the properties are taken into use, i.e. in about one or two years.

Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed by BPi Polska an exclusive agent for the mixed-use project Bulwary Książęce in Wrocław. Bulwary Książęce is located in the centre of Wrocław on Księcia Witolda Street on Kępa Mieszczańska island near Pomorski Bridge, in close proximity to the Old Town. It will contribute towards reviving the Odra Boulevard in this part of the city. The complex, which will be developed over two phases, comprises a retail and services part as well as 347 residential units, including premium flats and apartments.

In H1 2016, a total of 3,350 apartments in 47 new residential schemes were completed in Prague. For the second half of the year, another 3,200 units are estimated to be completed in the Czech capital. In total, JLL expects 6,500 units to be completed in Prague, which is the highest figure since the real estate crisis in 2009. 

Central and Eastern European housing markets are over the crisis and prices have once again begun to rise. The general upswing, observed on European housing markets, is supported by a number of factors. Following the economic crisis, GDP has begun to grow once again in most countries and the interest environment is also favourable to borrowing. These both contribute to a recovery in housing market demand, which may then materialise in higher prices. In the case of housing markets in the Central and Eastern European region, significant differences in price dynamics may be observed. Hungary stands out from the field, where a highly significant price rise has been observed in the past two years with the prices of second-hand homes having grown by 29 percent. We take a look at Central and Eastern European housing markets.

The supply of new apartments in Budapest has increased significantly, 2.5 times, between February and March of 2016, but only a few can move in as the number of apartments with an occupancy permit is limited. The first wave of increase will hit the market in the second half of 2017. The still tight supply and large demand has pushed prices upward; the increase in price per square meter has exceeded 5%, as shown by the analysis of the Budapest Housing Market Report.