The overall volume of transactions in the commercial property sector in the Czech Republic should reach €1.2 billion this year. This means a 63% decrease compared with last year, which in turn was more successful than average. Considering the complications that the coronavirus pandemic caused to the economy, such a result is quite satisfactory and attests to the lasting investor appetite. In addition, an increase to almost twice this year’s volume can be expected next year. The fact that real estate prices remain stable is also positive.

Cromwell EREIT Management Pte. Ltd., the manager of Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust announced that it will be acquiring a portfolio comprising 11 logistics and light industrial properties in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for an aggregate purchase price of €113.2 million, on a net operating income yield of 6.7%. The seller is Arete Invest, acting on behalf of its sub-fund Arete Invest Podfond CEE II

Accolade Industrial Fund has secured an €85 million refinancing loan from Česká spořitelna for its Czech industrial portfolio. At the same time, the Fund responds to growing interest from qualified investors and following its debut in the domestic Czech market, it’s opening a distribution network in neighbouring Slovakia, together with Slovenská sporiteľňa.

Radovan Vítek and Marie Vítek have resigned from CPI Property Group’s Board of Directors and Jonathan Lewis has been co-opted to the Board of Directors. Mr. Lewis is an independent real estate consultant who practised for 40 years as a solicitor, most recently as a partner at international law firm CMS. CPIPG's board now consists of three independent directors (Edward Hughes, Omar Sattar, and Jonathan Lewis) and four members of management (Martin Nemecek, Tomas Salajka, Philippe Magistretti, and Oliver Schlink).

Cushman & Wakefield has entered into a partnership agreement with building technology advisor Future2. The partnership, covering the CEE region, enables Cushman & Wakefield to advance the development of its property management and technical advisory services by adding deep knowledge of digital building systems.

The availability of housing in Prague has slightly improved this year, but it is still incomparably worse than in the surrounding metropolises. The inhabitants of Prague have to work 13.9 years for an average 70 sqm apartment. In Vienna, for example, such a purchase only cost 8.7 annual salaries. Compared to last year, a slight improvement was registered in 2020, but the effect of the coronavirus crisis has not yet been reflected in wage statistics, according to Czech residential developer Central Group.

The great majority of shopping centres in the Czech Republic should reopen on Thursday 3 December. The footfall and revenue figures show that customers have not given up on visiting shopping centres in the long-term perspective or changed their shopping habits dramatically. Following the reopening after the first wave of the corona crisis, both performance indicators grew again, and revenue even exceeded last year’s figures in a year-on-year comparison. The impact on footfall and turnover was lower in the second wave, with footfall slightly growing in recent weeks. Considering that Christmas is coming, we can expect customers to return to shopping centres quickly as soon as they are allowed to, resulting in an exceptional increase in footfall and revenue.

CPI Property Group’s property portfolio increased by 8% to €9.9 billion compared to the end of 2019, primarily due to the acquisition of six office properties in Warsaw, Poland and a 29.4% stake in Globalworth Real Estate Investments Limited. CPIPG published unaudited financial results for the third quarter of 2020.

Generali Real Estate S.p.A. has completed the acquisition of International Business Centre (IBC), an office building in Prague, from Mint Investments, on behalf of the pan-European “Generali Real Estate Core Plus” fund managed by Generali Real Estate S.p.A Società di gestione del risparmio.

Panattoni has begun the construction of a new 31,000 sqm industrial park on the site of the former Kavalier glassworks in Hostomice near Teplice in Central Bohemia.