Real estate investors and developers across Europe are increasingly turning towards green bonds to help build portfolios of sustainable assets that accommodate a lower consumption of resources in the long term and have a limited impact on the environment. This trend is also clearly visible in the Central and Eastern European region, where a growing number of high-profile companies are choosing to finance their expansion plans with the help of green bonds.

Cushman & Wakefield strengthens its management structure in the CEE region. Part of this step is the extension of the roles of some of its professionals, who are newly responsible for the firm’s activities in the whole region. Three experts from Cushman & Wakefield’s Czech office now have such regional roles. Radka Novak has been appointed Head of Office Agency for CEE, Marie Baláčová has been appointed Head of Data & Analytics for CEE and Ondřej Fukal has been appointed Head of Asset Services for CEE.

The property markets of individual countries are affected by a number of external factors, so it is not evident that they are doing equally well in a small region like CEE. What are the strong and weak points of Hungary's property market compared to other countries in the region? How successfully has it weathered the COVID crisis? What will be the best development and investment opportunities in the coming period? These were the questions discussed by the international investors’ panel at the 2021 edition of Property Investment Forum in Budapest.

CEE’s leading real estate event since 2013 is back! Property Forum’s annual conference, CEE Property Forum 2021 on 20-21 September, will gather hundreds of visitors and 60 speakers that will discuss hot button issues – live and in person.

In the first half of 2021, tenants leased over 1.1 million sqm of modern office space across the capitals of the 15 CEE countries. The highest level of activity was recorded in Warsaw (249,300 sqm), followed by Prague and Budapest. The Business Services Sector continues to generate a great deal of demand and occupier activity and is one of the largest employment sectors in the region according to the “ExCEEding Borders - Office Markets & Business Services in CEE-15” report just released by Colliers.

Markus Arnold, CEO of Arnold Investments talked to Property Forum about the current state of the European property investment market and the important role advisors play in it. He also shared details about the company’s expansion strategy for the coming period.

CPI Property Group’s net rental income increased to €175 million in H1 2021 (up 7% versus H1 2020) and its consolidated adjusted EBITDA rose to €172 million (up 5% versus H1 2020). The company published its unaudited financial results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2021.

Immofinanz is now expanding its real estate offering to also include affordable and sustainable housing. With Top on Stop, single-storey Stop Shop retail parks will be overbuilt to create low-price, resource-friendly housing and to create up to 12,000 new apartments over the medium-term. This represents a further contribution by Immofinanz to the fight against climate change, ground sealing and the explosion in housing costs and opens up new earnings opportunities while, at the same time, optimising risk.

The office sector accounted for 66% of total investment volumes recorded in Romania’s commercial real estate sector in the first semester. Deals worth close to €290 were closed in the first half, down 41% year-on-year, according to a report by real estate consultancy Colliers. 

Immofinanz generated strong growth in the results of operations and net profit during the first half-year. The expansion of the portfolio through acquisitions in Bucharest and Italy during recent months will be continued. The acquisition and development project pipeline has a volume of more than €1 billion.