Despite the general slowdown of investment activity in Europe, properties in Poland remain attractive to both local and foreign investors. Avison Young Poland summarised the current situation in the Polish investment market.

Avison Young represented a global investment manager in the sale of a portfolio of four retail facilities, located in regional cities: Stara Cegielnia in Szczecin, Galeria Kosmos in Koszalin, OK Centrum Wałbrzych and OK Centrum Strzegom, with a total area of about 15,000 square meters GLA. Information on the value of the sale and the buyer's entity was not disclosed. All the facilities have a food operator of well-known discount chains - Lidl, Biedronka or Intermarche - as the main tenant. The buyer has plans to refresh some of the acquired assets and re-commercialize them.

The prolonged conflict in Ukraine (the refugee wave) and the significantly reduced credit scores increase the demand for renting apartments and thus, affect the development of the PRS market in Poland. The institutional rental sector will also grow due to the changing perception of homeownership by young people, who value mobility and do not necessarily need to own a home. According to Eurostat data from 2021, about 30 percent of the population in the European Union live in rented apartments, while in Poland this number amounts to only about 13 percent. Paulina Brzeszkiewicz-Kuczyńska, Research and Data Manager at Avison Young Poland, summarises this sector's current situation. 

The mood among investors at MIPIM was mixed: we all expected that the beginning of this year would not be rich in transactions and new projects, and it is true - we are seeing an investment slowdown across Europe, writes Marcin Purgal, Senior Director, Investment at Avison Young. However, in this time of uncertainty, we can say that Poland is enjoying and will continue to enjoy the interest of investors - it is one of the most active markets, across all segments, offering higher rates of return than Western Europe. We have an influx of new capital from the Baltic countries and Scandinavia. Also, the already present capital is still active, such as investors from Central and Eastern Europe as well as a few from Western Europe.

In 2021, the warehouse sector strongly dominated Poland's commercial real estate market in terms of volume. The value of transactions - approximately €3.2 billion - accounted for over half of the total value of investment transactions. In 2022, the sector's result - €2 billion – accounted for "only" a 34% share in the total transaction volume in Poland, says Bartłomiej Krzyżak, Senior Director, Investment at Avison Young Poland.

Romanian developer Pedro Construct has completed a new office building spanning 9,500 sqm in Bucharest following an investment of around €18 million.  

Saying goodbye to 2022 means welcoming a year of uncertainty for the fourth time in a row. Two pandemic years, war in Ukraine, historically high inflation and the upcoming spectre of recession have forced the Polish investment market to cope with tough times, says Avison Young Poland

The historic building will offer 4,600 sqm of office and 340 sqm of retail space in the very heart of the Hungarian capital. The opening is expected at the end of January.

Taking into account the mood and current investment activity, it would seem that the recession in global markets is only just developing. A clear slowdown in real estate transactions has been visible since mid-2022. Several factors contributed to it, including the increase in interest rates, uncertainty related to the geopolitical situation, the war in Ukraine, games between the USA, Taiwan and China, as well as the instability of government and economy in Great Britain and economic problems in China, claims Michał Ćwikliński, Principal, Managing Director – Poland at Avison Young. 

As we are seeing a slowing down of new office projects across Budapest and the region, occupancy has emerged as ‘king’, while energy efficiency has become the number one priority for both landlords and tenants. Property Forum asked Jake Lodge, Principal at Avison Young in Hungary about his view on the major changes in the local office market and the way landlords and tenants try to overcome mounting difficulties.