Increase in flexible working patterns brought on by the Covid pandemic has had a positive influence on our ability to juggle these two competing pulls on our time and focus, says Clare Sheils, Managing Director of CBRE in the Czech Republic. She talked to Property Forum about market expectations, the ongoing energy crisis and being a woman in top management in real estate.

As the European Union has proposed the move towards zero-emission buildings by 2030, a significant portion of the energy consumption of these projects should be covered by energy from renewable sources. This includes renewable energy produced on-site or nearby so property companies are starting to invest in such facilities in a bid to lower operating costs and meet targets under their ESG agendas. The investments in such capacities have been boosted by the high energy price environment and the need of property companies to enhance the security of power supplies.

A stagnating market, stable prices of quality properties and further inflation of the rental housing bubble. These are the key trends of the Prague residential market at the end of last year, according to an analysis by Svoboda & Williams.

Another new residential building, Oliva, built by Passerinvest in Prague Brumlovka, was approved in December. The first residents will start moving into the 72 flats in the first quarter of this year, the developer announced. 

The Czech real estate market in 2023 will be driven mainly by inflation, which will also determine this year´s ten real estate market trends. Among them will be high construction costs, pressure for ESG compliance and looking for a balance between savings, spending a responsible investing, says Colliers in its real estate market prediction for this year.

Stefan de Goeij has rejoined CTP as ESG and Energy Lead, after a two-year break, reporting directly to the company’s founder and CEO Remon Vos.

PPF continues to divest its Russian portfolio. It has completed the sale of its 60 percent majority stake in the giant South Gate logistics centre near Moscow. The deal is said to be the largest of its kind in a decade, Russian news server Metalinfo.ru reports, cited by Czech daily E15.cz.

The commercial real estate investment market in the Czech Republic is stagnating. Analysts see the year 2023 as a challenging year. However, the market was dominated by domestic capital last year and there is still a mismatch in the expectations of buyers and sellers, according to a Knight Frank report.

The real estate investment market is impacted by increased inflation expectations, higher interest rates and the inflated cost of financing, and it will continue into 2023. It inevitably leads to increasing yield expectations. In most European markets across various sectors, yields have increased this year. According to BNP Paribas Real Estate, some price corrections are expected in some markets and asset types in 2023. The market expects to stabilize in the second half of the year when investment activity could also see some revival, reported 108 real estate agency. 

Obermeyer Helika, one of the largest Czech engineering and construction consulting companies, is expanding its management. In the second week of January, the company appointed Jiri Kos as its new Chief Commercial Officer.