One of the most important questions among the participants of CEE Property Forum 2022 in Vienna was “Is it still safe to invest in real estate located in Central and Eastern Europe?”. The answer is positive. It is still safe, though not everywhere.

Investments in the private rented sector (PRS) and industrial projects continue to grow in Central and Eastern Europe despite economic and geopolitical challenges, concluded speakers during the investment strategies panel at CEE Property Forum 2022 in Vienna.

Susanne Steinböck, Group Head of Corporate Communications and Sustainability at CA Immo talked to Property Forum about the current state of affairs in the European office market, its attractiveness and energy-related challenges it has to face in the nearest future.

As part of its value-creating growth strategy with a focus on high-return properties, Immofinanz is acquiring 53 retail properties in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary from its majority shareholder CPI Property Group (CPIPG). The acquired portfolio has roughly 217,000 sqm of rentable space and is fully let with an occupancy rate of 99%. The purchase price totals €324.2 million. The purchase contract was signed today, together with the closing for 36 retail properties in the Czech Republic and Poland which have 108,000 sqm of rentable space. The purchase price of €191 million for those properties was financed from existing funds. The closing for the remaining 17 properties in Hungary and Slovakia is expected to take place by the end of this year.

Property Forum spoke with Stefan Walter, Member of the Board of Directors at RSM International and Managing Partner of RSM Austria and Onno Adriaansens, Co-Chair of the RSM European Real Estate Group and Head of the Real Estate Desk at RSM Netherlands, about the consultancy’s focus on CEE markets and property investment trends in the region.

Markus Arnold, CEO of Arnold Investments talked to Property Forum about the key drivers of real estate investment in Europe and he also shared where the company is opening up new locations next.

Jürgen Winklbauer, Managing Director of Panattoni Austria talked to Property Forum about the current situation in the Austrian warehouse market, the plausible directions of its development and the growing importance of photovoltaics.

Dr. Angelus Bernreuther, Head of Investor Relationship Management at Kaufland talked to Property Forum about the key drivers of retail, the increasingly important role of digitalization and also shared the company’s expansion strategy for the CEE region.

The boundary between online and offline shopping is becoming increasingly vague. There is an evident retail trade trend toward the omnichannel, i.e. combining various sales channels tailored to the consumer's individual needs. This requires the development of e-commerce which has significantly accelerated recently. In the last 5 years, the share of online sales in Central and Eastern Europe grew by 9 pps to 15%, and in 4 years' time is bound to amount to 20%, according to CBRE's forecasts. Poland and Czechia are leaders in terms of online shopping growth in the region. E-commerce's market share in these countries in 2026 may be as high as almost a quarter.

Following the completion of the mandatory offer by CPI Property Group in relation to S Immo, the Supervisory Board and the acting Chairman of the Management Board, Dr. Bruno Ettenauer, have mutually agreed that Mr. Ettenauer's Management Board contract terminated at the end of 6 September 2022.