Rental growth and yield compression eased across Europe’s commercial real estate markets in Q1 2020, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest DNA of Real Estate.

Has the Polish real estate market been hit by the coronavirus pandemic? How will it change over the course of several months? Cushman & Wakefield presented a summary of Q1 2020 on the Polish property market, the impact of the pandemic on each sector and economic forecasts for Poland in its new report.

The social distancing in office spaces after COVID-19 involves an immediate action strategy to adapt to the new workplace normality, which is why Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has formed a multidisciplinary team to help employers prepare for the gradual return of their employees in office spaces.

Bucharest and the major university centres in Romania, such as Cluj-Napoca, Timişoara, Iaşi, Braşov or Craiova, are well-positioned to attract new business in the services sector, despite the Covid-19 pandemic that slowed down the transactional activity and led companies to work from home, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Ever since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus, our lifestyles and the way business is done have changed completely worldwide. Although the end of the several-week-long isolation is close, it is quite certain that this period will have its effects on many aspects of life. This is also reflected in the results of a major survey recently conducted by a leading real estate consultancy CBS International, part of Cushman & Wakefield Group, called "Traditional Office vs. Home Office in a Changed Business Environment". The survey involved 250 domestic and international companies from different industries, based in Serbia, and the results comprehensively illustrated how COVID-19 affected and will affect their business in the future.

Sooner or later, many companies that recommended their employees to work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic will return to their offices. Whether this happens in a matter of two, four or six weeks, it is a good idea to start preparing for the move now. The Six Feet Office concept offers rules and aids to enable and facilitate the observance of the safe six-feet distance for increased employee safety. The companies that implement these rules will be able to accelerate the return of their employees to the offices, and thus their own return to normal.

Cushman & Wakefield has appointed Krzysztof Misiak as Head of Poland to succeed Charles Taylor who leaves the firm after 30 years.

COVID-19 restrictions which were introduced by the Polish government in March and extended until at least 19 April are affecting each sector of the economy. Cushman & Wakefield experts, including Katarzyna Lipka-Nawrocka, Jan Szulborski, Małgorzata Dziubińska, and Adrian Semaan, talk about how these restrictions are reshaping the retail, office and warehouse sectors.

Cushman & Wakefield has formed the Recovery Readiness Task Force (RRTF) to lead the development of best practices, products and partnerships to prepare clients for post-COVID-19 recovery and the eventual return to the workplace. Additionally, Cushman & Wakefield has launched a new office design concept on its website, showcasing a new social distancing program developed by the firm and being piloted in The Netherlands.

Saving money and time spent in traffic are the main advantages of working from home, while the main disadvantages are the lack of direct socialization with colleagues and the difficulty in separating professional from personal time, according to a survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.