The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak seems to be having a severely negative impact on market sentiment across the CEE region, according to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor. Q1 2020 figures show that both rental and capital value expectations have been downgraded across the region with retail expected to see the sharpest decline and industrial proving to be the most resilient asset class.

The coronavirus outbreak continues to affect people and economies deeply. In the latest online panel organized by Property Forum, three real estate professionals discussed the impacts of the coronavirus crisis on the Bulgarian property market.

Is the lockdown completely rewriting CEE's risk map? How does COVID-19 affect real estate financing? How can I close an ongoing transaction without travelling? These and similar questions were discussed by the experts at Property Forum’s latest online investment panel.

In Central Europe, 5 buildings totalling 160,000 square meters are currently under construction by Prologis. The company published its first-quarter 2020 earnings results,

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.