Property Forum’s next virtual event will aim to provide a property investment outlook for 2020 and beyond. Two presentations and a panel with influential investors, bankers and advisors will answer questions related to immediate and long-term effects of the coronavirus lockdown on the property investment market.

The Supervisory Board of Immofinanz resolved upon the appointment of Ronny Pecik as member of the Executive Board of the company for three years starting with 4 May 2020. Ronny Pecik will be Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Owners are looking carefully at their exposure to risk, especially in terms of covenant strength and government measures affecting rental payments, according to Colliers International’s CEE Investment report for Q1 2020. Residential tops the sectors due to one deal but offices (27% share) have maintained their place in the order of preference, closely followed by industrial and logistics (26% share) in Q1 2020.

Immofinanz published its results for the 2019 financial year. The clear improvement of 18.1% in rental income and 30.2% in FFO 1 from the standing investment business underscore the profitable growth of the portfolio to approximately €5.1 billion. Net profit rose by 61.9% to €352.1 million and goes hand in hand with a solid financial position: Cash and cash equivalents total €345.1 million. In order to strengthen this very good cash position, an unsecured revolving credit facility of €100 million was concluded at the end of March 2020.

After the first loosening measures of Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, more countries of the region plan to start gradually scaling back the regulations imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Getting a clearer picture of market participants’ expectations is more important than ever in these turbulent times. That’s why Property Forum and RICS launched a survey on the potential implications of the COVID-19 crisis on real estate markets in CEE. Nearly 100 people filled out our questionnaire. Here are the results.

Hungary's economy could rebound with 4.2% GDP growth in 2021 following a 3.1% contraction this year, according to a forecast by the International Monetary Fund published on Tuesday. According to the IMF, Hungary's economy is surprisingly resilient to the crisis, with only Serbia expected to do slightly better this year in the region.

Countries in CEE acted early by closing their borders and introducing lockdown measures in response to the pandemic. Now, Austria and the Czech Republic are among the first in Europe to begin lifting their coronavirus restrictions.

The topic of Property Forum’s second online panel was the impact of the coronavirus lockdown on real estate financing in CEE. After the economic outlook of Commerzbank’s Senior EM Strategist, Tatha Ghose, four expert bankers discussed the short and long-term effects of the pandemic, such as how the lockdown affects ongoing deals, what kind of recession are we looking at and how the perception of individual asset classes may change in light of the current events. According to the experts, the recovery is expected to take longer in Hungary and Poland, while the rebound may come sooner in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

New Work, an independent flexible office operator in Central and Eastern Europe, has secured new funding to accelerate the implementation of their 360° Workspace Solution strategy.