The first six months of 2018 haven’t been the strongest for the Hungarian investment market but the current pipeline of deals leaves much room for optimism regarding the remaining months of the year. Benjamin Perez-Ellischewitz MRICS, Regional Director and Head of Capital Markets Hungary at JLL talked to us about new investments, rising asset classes and game-changing technologies. 

Airbnb activity in Budapest shows strong growth in overnight stays in 2017, reaching almost 1.5 million, which represents an increase of 35% y-o-y. The top 3 neighbourhoods (District V, VI and VII) account for 69% of the total Airbnb bookings in Budapest, says the latest Budapest city report on Airbnb released by Colliers International and Hotelschool The Hague. All data is directly provided from Airbnb through AirDNA’s authentic source.

M7 Real Estate has recently sold three assets, Innovations Business Park in Budapest, Hungary and Sanitas Industrial Park and Uhrineves Industrial Park both located in Prague, Czech Republic, for a total of circa €24 million, delivering investors a strong increase in value.

Knight Frank formally opened a dedicated office in Budapest, becoming a fully branded Knight Frank business from 20 September 2018.

With investor appetite for newly-built offices remaining competitive there is also a continuous demand coming from investors seeking older, yet sustainably rentable offices with high occupancy – these refurbished offices remain attractive for the active funds in Budapest. This time CBRE has transacted Bluehouse Capital’s Margit Palace sale to Adventum TRIUM Real Estate Fund.

Skanska is investing about €29 million in the third phase of Nordic Light office complex, located in the 13th district of Budapest with a total leasable area of 14,000 sqm. Nordic Light Trio is designed to meet the WELL Building Standard.

Futureal Group signed a loan agreement for €150 million (roughly HUF 48 billion) with a consortium led by UniCredit acting as Bookrunner and Facility Agent. UniCredit and Erste Group will finance Buda's biggest shopping centre with equal parts, marking one of the largest shopping centre-related financings in Hungary over the past ten years. The construction of Etele Plaza, with a gross area of 137,000 square meters, is already underway.

GTC announced the acquisition of a new development project in Budapest, adjacent to GTC Hungary’s Center Point Office Buildings. This new project will be titled Center Point 3 and will add approximately 35,500 sqm GLA of office and commercial space to the flagship Center Point Office Campus.

K&H Bank concluded a financing agreement with the developer concerning BudaPart GATE, the first office building of the largest multi-functional real estate development of Budapest. The first office building of BudaPart is a 20,092 sqm and 11-storey building with an occupancy soon reaching 40%.

NEPI Rockcastle announced the acquisition of 100% of Mammut 2 and 81% of Mammut 1, which jointly form the Mammut shopping centre in Budapest. The aggregate net purchase price for the acquisition was €254 million, according to the company's statement.