Residential investments in Europe used to be the domain of certain specialised investors but that is now changing as other players that have previously invested exclusively in office or retail are looking at investments in the living sector. Maximilian Mendel, Head of Living Investment at JLL in Poland, talked to Property Forum about current trends in CEE residential investment.

Colliers International in CEE intends to update some of the more rapidly changing data and market sentiment on a weekly basis and then to provide Q1 market sector updates as they become available or as they develop. Below is this week’s summary.

CPI Property Group has prepared an update for its stakeholders regarding the Group’s response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.

CA Immo presented its financial results for 2019 with a significant increase in recurring earnings (+13%) and rental income (+15%).  The company expects challenging conditions on CA Immo's core markets due to COVID-19.

Throughout the region, CTP is offering clients the opportunity to lease warehouse space for short terms. This measure comes in response to the concerns being raised by the COVID-19 situation regarding the stability of the retail supply chain.

NEPI Rockcastle provided an initial update concerning the impact of the COVID-19 related government measures on its activities in an announcement dated 17 March 2020. Since that date, the authorities in Romania, Serbia and Croatia have increased the safety measures to contain the spreading of COVID-19. New measures include temporarily limiting the operations of some of its shopping centres’ tenants.

NEPI Rockcastle is donating €150,000 to the International Red Cross Organization aimed for supporting the efforts of preventing the spread of COVID-19. The amount of money will be distributed according to the current medical needs and will be used for the purchase of disinfectant substances or items vital in slowing the spread of the virus. Public awareness campaigns will also be supported.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause multiple disruptions to the world’s industries and economies and this is also true for many CEE currencies. Those countries that have not adopted the Euro, or are not pegged to it, have each seen a ca. 10% depreciation in currency value during the period February to March 2020. The Romanian Leu is the exception which has depreciated just 1%, largely due to central bank intervention, Colliers reports in its CEE Special Insights Series.

Governments in the region keep introducing economic aid packages. Property Forum’s daily summary looks at the measures taken to ease the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on households and businesses.

Erste Bank Group anticipates an economic slowdown for 2020 in most CEE countries due to the coronavirus situation. The bank’s report mentions a negative scenario as well, which would result in a massive recession in the region.