When assessing the first quarter of 2020, analysts of EBI Construction Activity Report Q1 2020 already highlighted the impact of the pandemic on the Hungarian construction industry. Back then, they did it with the help of a forecast based on limited available data, but since then actual data have been released and the impact of the pandemic on the sector can be assessed in detail.

Echo Investment has gained a loan for the construction of the MidPoint71 office building, that is being built in Wrocław on Powstańców Śląskich street. PKO Bank Polski provided the financing of the project. In accordance with the signed loan agreement, the bank granted Echo Investment €54.4 million in a construction loan, as well as a PLN 7 million VAT loan. Once the construction is finished, the construction loan will be converted to an investment loan. The total funding period ends on 30 June 2026.

There are only four construction projects with a unit value in excess of PLN 3 billion (€670 million), excl. VAT, currently underway in Poland. The combined value of these projects, commonly referred to as megaprojects, is almost PLN 17 billion (€3.8 billion), excl. VAT. This is not a lot, given the fact that projects worth a total of nearly PLN 300 billion (€67 billion) are in the pipeline.

The construction industry in most of Southeastern Europe will be bruised by the pandemic effects this year, causing a drop in construction outputs. The two exceptions are Croatia and Bulgaria where civil engineering could compensate for the losses elsewhere. Already in 2021, we are likely to see positive growth rates in all 5 countries, according to the Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association

Despite a short-lasting downturn in economic activity caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Polish construction industry will continue to exhibit significant potential for growth right up to 2025. Notably, the outlook for the civil engineering sector has improved compared with the previous projections. A vast majority of projects underway or planned to implemented are located in the six most economically advanced regions, which account for almost 65% of the construction market’s total value.

The European construction industry will be hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, according to Euroconstruct's latest forecast for 19 European member states.

The first quarter of the year 2020, mostly starting with mid-February, was marked by ominous economic forecasts. Thus, some decline in construction activity was to be expected, and indeed newly started construction projects dropped to just over €1.3 billion in Q1 2020. This amounts to a 14% decrease compared to the equivalent period of 2019, according to the latest edition of the EBI Construction Activity Report for Romania.

The National Federation of Hungarian Building Contractors (ÉVOSZ) expects orders that were never placed in the last two months will be arriving in mid-June. 

The structure of OTP Bank's new office building in Budapest has been completed by developer Market Építő Zrt. The seven-story office building, which is being built in the 13th district, in the immediate vicinity of OTP Bank's existing office park, will be home to 3,000 employees once construction is complete in end-2021.

As the first coronavirus cases were registered in Hungary at the beginning of March, the effect of the epidemic on first-quarter figures might have been smaller. The epidemic may affect the construction industry in two ways. Projects that have already started may stop or may continue at a slower pace and it may hold back the value of projects entering construction phase.  Results show that there was a massive decline in the value of completed projects already in Q1 2020. The value of the Activity Completion Indicator of the EBI Construction Activity Report in the domestic construction industry decreased by 29% due to the epidemic, and several hundred projects were delayed.