Office take-up in 2017 hit a record high of 674,800 sqm in Poland’s regional office markets, up by more than 16% on 2016’s level. The strongest leasing activity was recorded in Kraków, Wrocław and Tricity. Cushman & Wakefield has published its MarketBeat report.

China has reclaimed top spot in Cushman & Wakefield’s global ranking of the most attractive markets for manufacturing, confirming its status as the sector’s powerhouse. Last year’s number one ranked country, Malaysia, falls to third place behind Lithuania.

The year 2017 saw the greatest amount of industrial space built in Europe in its history – more than 3.7 million sqm. This represents a 68% increase over 2016 and a 55% increase over the existing record dating back to 2007 (an additional 1.2 million sqm). The total industrial space in the region has increased by 17% as a result. Such are the results of a survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield, a company that has been monitoring the industrial property market in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania on a long-term basis.

Warsaw’s central office district went through a transformation process in recent years following the delivery of a number of modern office developments such as Q22 or Warsaw Spire, which have already been acclaimed as unique and landmark schemes. However, in addition to modern buildings and futuristic skyscrapers, this area is also home to second-generation offices developed before 2000 and historical buildings which form an integral part of the capital city’s centre. Michał Wachowicz, Consultant, Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield analysed Warsaw’s CBD.

According to the latest analysis prepared by the Capital Markets team Cushman & Wakefield, investment volumes in Central and Eastern Europe reached nearly €13 billion in 2017. All CEE countries grew at a similar rate and maintained their share of the overall regional volume. Despite political risk perceptions, Poland grew most rapidly at 9% y-o-y from approx. €4.6 billion to €5 billion, which was the highest result recorded in the last 10 years. 2018 has already seen the benefit of deals that slipped from late 2017 with the investment volume in Q1 2018 likely to exceed €3 billion.

Cushman & Wakefield Echinox assisted property transactions in Romania totalling over €300 million in 2017, accounting for 30% of the total local property investment volume of nearly €1 billion. The deals included projects such as Chitila Logistic Park, the Radisson Blu complex in Bucharest and two properties sold by REWE.

Cushman & Wakefield is further expanding its presence in the Czech Republic. It will open a new regional office in the Trinity Office Center in the centre of Brno. Its focus will be on regional office market, but will offer to its clients consulting services from other real estate sectors as well. Lukáš Netolický will be leading the office and at the same time becomes the Head of Regional Cities CZ. The new office will open in March 2018. Cushman & Wakefield is therefore responding to the steadily growing trend of regional market development fuelled by the economic growth. Brno is the most active city in terms of demand, followed by Ostrava.

In 2017, real estate transactions hit a record-breaking volume of € 5 billion, up by nearly 10% on the previous year. Bank financing for properties remained unchanged, averaging approximately 60% of each property’s value. Cushman & Wakefield has published its opinion on the commercial property lending market in Poland, written by Mira Kantor-Pikus, Partner, Equity, Debt & Structured Finance, Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield Poland.

Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed exclusive sales agent for a tenement building at 68 Piękna Street in Warsaw.

European office rental growth slowed to 0.4% over the quarter, though still posted a respectable 2.4% annualised growth. Budapest led the way with growth of 9.1% across the quarter, supported by strong demand, historically-low vacancy rates and a lack of Class A space. Demand for logistics space is supporting rental growth and driving yields lower across Europe, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest DNA of Real Estate report.