Hong Kong Central remained the most expensive office market in the world, according to CBRE’s annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs report.

So far in 2018 CBRE won the management of further 10 properties (industrial and shopping centres and an office building) in Budapest. The Budapest office now manages a 600,000 sqm portfolio in Hungary.

Gross take-up (including renegotiations and subleases) on the Prague office market in the first quarter of 2018 amounted to 85,700 sqm, representing a decrease of 51% compared to the previous quarter and a decrease of 19% in year-on-year comparison. The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for Q1 2018.

CBRE brokered the sale of the 42-hectare land that where BSH Electrocasnice Manufacturing SRL, a Romanian subsidiary of BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, owned by Bosch Group, will build a washing machine factory. The land is located in Simeria, Hunedoara County.

In Q1 2018, industrial space totalling 181,900 sqm was completed across the Czech Republic, but speculative construction accounted only for 2% of all new developments. The Industrial Research Forum announced the preliminary industrial market figures for Q1 2018.

Cushman & Wakefield has signed an exclusive arrangement with CBS International as its affiliate in Serbia and Montenegro. The former CBRE affiliate has been rebranded to Cushman & Wakefield CBS International.

Bistrita Retail Park will be inaugurated in May 2018, Element Development, the park’s announced. The list of tenants for the nearly 8,000 sqm retail park include, among others, Carrefour Market, JYSK, Decathlon and Top Shop.

Industrial, and specifically logistics, is the most sought-after real estate sector for European investors, overtaking office for the first time, according to CBRE’s annual EMEA Investor Intentions Survey. In 2017 Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and London were the five most sought-after destinations in Europe for investors who are actively pursuing alternative opportunities due to aggressive asset pricing and limited availability of core stock. In Hungary steadily improving developer sentiment and potential platform deals could pave the way for rising turnover in the sector.

In Romania, the peak of the real estate cycle is often delayed compared to other countries in the region and market dynamics don’t allow for a true warm up. Ana Dumitrache, Head of Investment Properties at CBRE Romania shared her expectations for the market.

Exchange Palace the former Budapest Stock Exchange building co-owned by Canadian developer Tippin Corporation and Luxembourg Optimum Fund Management, has received a final building permit and will commence reconstruction works in 2018. The owners appointed JLL & CBRE appointed as co-exclusive leasing agents.