With a share of 70-80% of the total building stock, the retail sector in Romania has the biggest number of projects that have received green certifications, followed the industrial and office projects, according to real estate consultancy Colliers. 

The relocation process of manufacturing and business operations to Bulgaria following the geopolitical pressure gives the country a decent chance of attracting foreign investments. Despite the prediction of a recession in 2023, the expectations are for opportunities in some sectors and for investors to focus on high–quality and sustainable product. The trend is outlined by Colliers in their latest country report.

Colliers has appointed Dávid Horváth as Head of Workplace Advisory Services in Hungary. He joined the Colliers Occupier Services team in 2015 as a workspace consultant. After a short break, he will continue as Head of Workplace Advisory Services, which has been strengthened into a strategic business unit, starting from February 2023.

Markets are expected to remain subdued in H1 2023 due to the negative sentiment in the economy, the significantly higher financing costs and the subsequent pricing correction that is currently playing out in both CEE and many other global markets, reveals a report by Colliers.

The Czech industrial market grew at a rapid speed in 2022. Almost 1.1 million sqm of new space was added to the market, which is over 155% of the 5-year average annually completed space and the highest recorded figure on record for the Czech market. The market overtook 10 million sqm in mid-year and just failed to overtake the 11 million sqm milestone at year-end, achieving 10.8 million sqm at the end of Q4 2022. There was 150,300 sqm of newly added modern industrial space in the last quarter, Colliers says in their latest report.

As for the whole of 2022, the annual new supply of office space represents approximately 75,400 sqm. Although the annual supply of newly-completed space increased by 34% year-on-year, total volume was again below the long-term average of approximately 130,000 sqm per year. 2023 is expected to bring about some changes and more extensive construction. This means the Prague office market should grow to the 4 million sqm mark by 2025. Also at the close of 2022, several consecutive quarters of rent price growth came to a halt. These findings come from a survey by Colliers.

Romania’s industrial and logistics market expanded by over 500,000 sqm during 2022, with around half of all deliveries based in the Bucharest region, according to a report by real estate consultancy Colliers. 

While around 100,000 sqm of new office space is expected in Bucharest this year, no new project is slated for delivery in 2024 which would move the city into a landlord’s office market, according to Colliers. 

Price and yield moves on the Romanian property market will be influenced in the near future by both the availability and the cost of capital, while the overall volume of deals is likely to fall this year after reaching a 15-year high during 2022, suggest Colliers’ consultants. 

The number of property deals and the volumes transacted plunged in Q4 2022 in comparison to the final quarter of 2021 in major EMEA markets due to higher interest rates and financing costs amid surging inflation. However, property investment will resume its growth path this year, as the inflation and interest rates become more stable, says Colliers.