Student housing continued its record growth last year, booking over €9bn in international transactions, excluding the US. As student numbers are growing faster than supply, the asset class remains a top-4 sector prospect for investments in 2020, as shown by a recent study carried out by global research specialist Bonard.

Following an acquisition, CPI Property Group crossed the 6% shareholding threshold in Globalworth Real Estate Investments Limited.  As of 23 January 2020, CPI Property Group holds 13,391,959 shares of Globalworth, representing 6.035% of Globalworth's voting rights.

JLL has appointed Sabine Eckhardt as CEO Central Europe with effect from 1 May, 2020. In the newly created position, which includes full responsibility for Germany and Central Europe, based in Frankfurt, Sabine Eckhardt will help drive continued growth and digital transformation of the international real estate services group. She will also join JLL's EMEA Strategy Board.

With the payment transferred on 13 December, Wing has acquired a 100% stake in Lisala, which in turn owns a 56 % stake in ECHO Investment, a company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). This acquisition makes Wing a major real estate firm at the regional level. Supporting Echo Investment’s long-term growth program, Wing enters as a strategic investor. At the operational level, the two companies will continue to operate independently.

Poland-based proptech company Velis Real Estate Tech announced that its facility management software Singu FM has been implemented across Prologis’ EU portfolio and six U.S. markets. Prologis is a global leader in logistics real estate with a focus on investing in technology that helps customers solve their pain points and run their businesses as efficiently as possible. 

For the first three quarters of 2019, the CEE region has recorded an investment volume of ca. €9 billion. Offices dominate the deal flows with a 58% share, followed by a much slower retail sector with 18%, industrial & logistics (9%) and hotels (8%).

Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed by Logicor to manage a portfolio totalling more than 1.7 million square metres of logistics real estate across dozens of sites in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE).

According to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor, occupier and investment sentiment remains positive across main CEE markets, even though the Czech Republic has posted its most subdued set of readings in four years. In many countries, demand for retail assets fell on both the occupier and investment sides of the market. Based on rental and capital value projections, secondary retail is visibly suffering in Austria, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.

There’s a lot of capital targeting real estate in Central & Eastern Europe but finding the right investment product remains a huge challenge. Panellists of the CEE investment panel at Portfolio Property Investment Forum 2019 in Budapest discussed the risks investors in the region need to keep in mind.

The Executive Boards of S Immo and Immofinanz decided to end their discussions over the possible combination of the two companies. This decision was based, in particular, on the inability to reach an agreement over a possible exchange ratio.