Cosmin-Savu Cristescu, Managing Director of Romanian developer Redport Capital, spoke with Property Forum about the start of a new mixed-use investment of  €150 million in northern Bucharest and the continuation of the residential growth trend that has been recorded since 2023.

There is still a mismatch between buyers and sellers on property deals in CEE, but the market will attract more investment due to high yields and growth potential in industrial, residential and office, concluded speakers of the 2024 Property Investment Outlook online event organised by Property Forum.

NEPI Rockcastle has a development and refurbishment pipeline of more than €650 million in 2024 across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which is the biggest retail investment program in the region.

Industrial developer CTP recorded a 20.1% gain of net rental income to €543.2 million in 2023 compared to the previous year over a combination of indexation and reversion on renegotiations and expiring leases.

In 2023, Central Europe’s commercial real estate market faced a notable decline in investment volumes. Dropping by 55% year on year, the region’s total investment volume accounted for €5.02 billion. Of the six countries surveyed by Cushman & Wakefield, Poland experienced the most significant downturn of 68%, with its share of the total CEE volume also dropping. The highest proportion of the capital went into the office sector, which also recorded the sharpest outward movement in terms of yields. Local and regional investors accounted for two-thirds of the investment transaction volumes, a significant increase from the previous years. Despite challenges, the market demonstrates resilience, particularly in the logistics and residential sectors, spotlighting areas of growth potential.

Higher borrowing costs and the price gap between buyers' and sellers' expectations are some of the reasons why transaction volumes are significantly below the 10-year average level of ca. €10 billion. This is according to a commercial real estate investment volumes survey by Colliers presented at a February meeting of Czech and Slovak investors and other financial experts.

IAD's Prvý realitný fond real estate fund has acquired through its real estate company Logis Rugvica d.o.o. a plot of land intended for development in the Sveta Helena area, near the Croatian capital Zagreb. With this project, Prvý realitný fond is successfully starting its activities on the Croatian market.

NEPI Rockcastle, the third biggest retail real estate company in Europe, saw its net operating income soar 21% to a record €491 million in 2023 compared to the previous year over strong sales of its tenants across the region.

Hedwig Höfler has been appointed Group Head of Investment Management at CA Immo, tasked with expanding her existing responsibilities for Austria and CEE to include all transaction activity in Germany. She is taking over responsibilities covered by Christof Altendorfer, who left the company.

The retail sector accounted for 58% of the total investment transaction volume that reached €500 million during 2023 in Romania, according to data from iO Partners in collaboration with JLL.