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.

GalCap Europe, a Vienna-based international investment and asset management company, acquired the Central Udvar mixed-use complex as its second property after the Merkur Palota in Budapest. The purchase was made on behalf of a separate account for a German pension scheme, administered by Institutional Investment Partners. CBRE has advised GalCap Europe to purchase the building in an off-market deal. The buyer and the seller agreed not to disclose any purchase price details. Legal advice to GalCap Europe was provided by CHSH Dezső & Partner.

JLL and CBRE have been jointly appointed to lease Budapest ONE Business Park, the new office development project of Futureal Group in Hungary. The two advisors will cooperate on a co-exclusive basis for the leasing of the 68,000 square meter office complex.

2017 was a great year for the CEE property market and the scene is set for 2018 to be even better. However, there are always risks to be wary of. Andreas Ridder, Chairman CEE at CBRE revealed Property Forum his expectations for the CEE investment market in 2018.

The supply of new Class A office space delivered in Bucharest in 2017 was absorbed almost entirely by demand, as per a report by CBRE regarding the office market in 2017, which also says 90% of the office space area completed in 2017 has already been leased.