Immofinanz started the 2020 financial year with strong operational performance, but the development of business in the second quarter was negatively influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rental income rose by 10.4% to €145.5 million due to the expansion of the portfolio through acquisitions and completions, but a crisis-related increase in receivables write-offs led to substantially higher property expenses.

CA Immo presented a solid operating result for the first half of the year, hardly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Continuous portfolio growth and the continuing high occupancy rate of the property portfolio brought a further increase in net result from rent (+10.2% on the previous year). Although the negative revaluation result reflects the current state of economic emergency, its impact on consolidated net income was significantly mitigated by other positive earnings contributions. CA Immo continued its portfolio growth in the first half of the year with the addition of two fully let Berlin office buildings (including one project completion and one portfolio acquisition) to the investment portfolio.

The coronavirus crisis has led to a significant shift in the investment strategies of institutional real estate investors. “Lower risk, lower return” is the mantra of the moment. 58% of the 150 professional investors in Germany, France and the UK surveyed by Union Investment for its investment climate study are currently pursuing such a strategy. The figure was just 35% prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. The shift is especially pronounced in the UK, where security is the main investment motive for 79% of those surveyed. Before the pandemic, it was 50%. Nonetheless, there is no general reluctance to invest. Only five% of the European investors in the survey intend to avoid all investment in real estate in the current phase.

The first half of this year saw an absolute record-breaking result in the history of the Polish investment market in the warehouse segment. For the office sector, it was the second-best six months in history in terms of transaction value. Despite the turmoil caused by COVID-19, total transaction volume in the commercial real estate sector in Poland in the first half of this year was even higher than the excellent result from the same period in 2019, according to Walter Herz.

GTC’s rental and service revenues decreased by €3 million to €79 million in H1 2020. The decrease mainly resulted from a decrease in income of approximately €8 million due to rent relief imposed by governments during the lockdown of shopping malls and rent concessions and discounts provided by the Group to the retail tenants across the portfolio due to the COVID-19 outbreak combined with a decrease on rental revenues following the sale of GTC White House in the third quarter of 2019 and Neptun Office Center in the fourth quarter of 2019 of €3 million. The decrease was partially offset by an increase in the rental revenues due to completion of Ada Mall, Green Heart, ABC I and Matrix A.

Romania's real estate investment volume amounted to approx. €395 million in the first six months of 2020, a value 17% higher than the same period of the previous year, according to CBRE. Office buildings were the properties most sought after by investors, accounting for 88% of the volume traded and other similar projects are available for sale, totaling over €350 million.

The first half of the “pandemic year” was most difficult for retail players, considering the lockdown during the emergency state, but the recovery up until July has been better than most market participants were initially expecting, according to Colliers International’s market report for the first semester of 2020. In the industrial & logistics area, it has been business as usual during the pandemic, with some seeing big spikes in activity, but a significant pipeline of speculative developments and a competitive market are tilting the balance in favour or tenants.

Total real estate investment volume in Slovakia in H1 2020 reached €432 million which represents a 66% increase on the same period last year, according to data by CBRE. The volume was spread among ten transactions, with the average value of the deals amounting to €43 million, compared to €27 million last year.

The first half of 2020 was the strongest on record for the warehouse and industrial market in Poland, says Savills. Despite COVID-19 challenges, take-up set an all-time high halfway through the year. In addition, the leasing volume and the amount of new space coming onto the market were higher in Q2 than in the first three months of the year.

CEE investment volumes for the first half of 2020 reached ca. €6.26 billion. This figure was boosted by two large portfolios totalling in excess of €2.2 billion, with Poland and the Czech Republic taking a 78% share of the CEE-6 total. According to Colliers International's latest report, investor appetite remains strong for CEE but a cautious approach is still being applied as markets try to settle.