According to Cushman & Wakefield, commercial real estate in the first three quarters of 2018 the total investment volume in six CEE countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Russia) reached €8.9 billion. Investment activity in Poland exceeded the value recorded for the whole of 2017 and is expected to reach a record high of €6 billion by the year’s end. The sustainable and solid performance was recorded in Hungary and Slovakia with volumes hitting those in 2017, whereas Russia, the Czech Republic and Romania are expected to close the year at lower investment volumes, slightly below the 2017 levels.

With reduced tolerance for risk in property acquisitions, the use of title insurance has increased. Fifteen years after its introduction, it continues to play a growing role in the CEE real estate market. Jean-Bernard Wurm, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Secure Legal Title, London talked to Property Forum about the title insurance market in CEE.

German funds have always been one of the main players on the investment market in Poland and the CEE region. However, in recent years their share in transaction volume has been decreasing. Currently, they stand at around 15% of the total value invested annually. New entrants from the USA, Asia and South Africa have increased competition for commercial property in the region. Poland and the Czech Republic are still the CEE markets of choice for German investors seeking to locate their capital in commercial real estate.

As we’re approaching the end of the current cycle, investors allocate more capital to more crisis-resilient asset classes, including student housing. Samuel Vetrak, CEO of StudentMarketing, talked to Property Forum about recent developments on the CEE student housing market. Samuel will also present about the student housing asset class and chair a panel discussion at the upcoming Portfolio Property Investment Forum 2018 in Budapest.

While investors in CEE are figuring out what is the best operating model for maximising hotel investments and returns, international investors are flooding the market to acquire assets. Marius Gomola MRICS, Managing Director of Horwath HTL Hungary and Founder of HOTCO talked to Property Forum about recent developments on CEE hotel markets.  

Over the next six months, Prologis will bring to market nine modern, sustainable buildings in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The developer currently has nine logistics facilities under construction in CEE totalling around 200,000 square meters of space.

On 6 November 2018, Property Technology Forum Europe 2018, a conference and networking event for the proptech industry and real estate professionals from all over Europe will be held in Warsaw. Nearly 200 guests will come together in the Polish capital to discuss the future of the real estate industry and to explore the latest innovations in the profession. The mission of the event is to create a common ground for true collaboration between proptech startups, property professionals and occupiers.

There is room for online and conventional channel retail to continue co-existing side by side in the short to medium term in the CEE-6 markets, according to Colliers International. The solid further €71.5 billion expansion of retail sales out to 2022, 4.9% growth per annum overall, creates enough evolutionary room for multiple concepts to continue thriving. Conservative growth scenario sees e-commerce in CEE-6 expanding 8.8% per annum from a baseline of €13.1 billion to €20 billion.

The competitive advantages and strengths of the CEE region are well known to investors. But new factors have emerged that may play a central role in the medium and long-term. For example, there is a marked shift from cost efficiency to quality and knowledge-based operations across all sectors of the CEE economy. How is the tenant structure in CEE changing? Does growth in the BSS sector show any signs of slowing down? How do the legal and fiscal structures in CEE countries compare to those in Western Europe? All the answers to these and other important questions can be found in this year’s CEE Investment Report 2018: New Frontiers of Growth by Skanska, CBRE, Dentons and PwC.

According to Colliers International’s EMEA Industrial & Logistics Hubs report, demand for industrial and warehouse property rose in 50% of EMEA markets in H1 2018, up from 35% in H2 2017, driven by positive occupier sentiment, and despite challenges in the overall economy such as protectionism fears and trade tensions between the US and close trading partners in the EU.