The Q4 2020 results of the RICS Global Commercial Property Monitor continue to point to a challenging backdrop across Europe. Both the office and retail sectors remain under significant pressure, with demand still falling sharply amid the difficult economic climate induced by the pandemic. On a brighter note, supported by structural tailwinds, the industrial sector continues to defy this downbeat overall assessment, prompting respondents to upgrade expectations for rental and capital value growth.

The industrial segment has stood out as the most resilient sector to the crisis and the markets Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria present a huge opportunity for further growth. Boško Tomašević MRICS, Managing Director SEE at CBRE talked to Property Forum about investment market expectations and shared the company’s expansion plans for the Balkans region.

The total investment volume achieved in 2020 in the SEE region amounted to €766 million representing a 17% decline in transaction volume in comparison to the year before, according to CBRE’s market report summarising H2 2020 on the investment market.

JLL announced the first edition of the Sofia City Report, a semiannual publication which provides a detailed view of specific real estate markets in Sofia: office, retail and warehouses. It offers information on the economic situation in Bulgaria, including the investment climate. The report was made with the support of IPC Partners Bulgaria.

The construction sector in Bulgaria, and building construction in particular, was not affected as hard as others by the COVID-19 crisis, according to a report by the Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association.

In the first half of 2020, the supply of modern class A, B and C office space in Sofia increased by 1%, reaching 2,315,600 sqm, according to Colliers International. The recently completed building 3 of Garitage Park accounted for much of the growth in the office stock.

Law firm Kinstellar has successfully represented OTP Bank and its Bulgarian subsidiary, DSK Bank, in negotiating a €25 million loan for the construction and operation of Balkan Business Center, a major office complex in Sofia.

Cyprus-based real estate developer Everty Group intends to invest up to €100 million in Bulgaria during the next four years. The announcement follows the group's first major investment in Bulgaria, the acquisition of the 40,000 sqm Perform Business Centre in central Sofia back in 2019.

GTC Bulgaria has informed that the varied tenant portfolio of Advance Business Center II will be enriched by Commerzbank. One of the largest German banks will lease over 3,500 sqm GLA of office space starting 1st December 2020. The pre-leasing agreement was consulted by CBRE. Advance Business Center II is under construction phase and due for delivery in Q4 2020.

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak seems to be having a severely negative impact on market sentiment across the CEE region, according to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor. Q1 2020 figures show that both rental and capital value expectations have been downgraded across the region with retail expected to see the sharpest decline and industrial proving to be the most resilient asset class.