According to the latest RICS Commercial Property Monitor, CEE countries – most notably the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania – are still global leaders in occupier and investment sentiment. The Central European region’s most mature market, Austria is on a different path, however, with respondents reporting a broadly flat outlook.

KGAL has acquired the DRN office building in Prague for a pan-European special real estate Alternative Investment Fund (AIF). The purchase is in line with KGAL’s strategy of Europe-wide diversification across prime locations, and is its first investment in the Czech Republic. The fund now holds properties in Germany, Austria, Ireland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic.

The hotel investment market is reaching new heights in the Czech Republic with year to date volumes at €530 million and 10 hotel transactions. This is more than a 100% growth compared to the average yearly transaction volume of €250 million, recorded over the past five years.

Metro Properties, the real estate company of METRO AG, sold 11 Cash & Carry stores in Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic in a sale-and-leaseback transaction. The portfolio has been acquired by FLE GmbH, Vienna, subsidiary of French LFPI Group, investing on behalf of an AIF regulated fund. The transaction was finalized in August 2019, with a total volume exceeding €250 million. Metro and Makro Cash & Carry will continue to operate all wholesale locations on the basis of long-term lease contracts.

CTP announced that it will complete CTPark Bor in the next five years, creating the largest industrial park in the Czech Republic with an area of ​​600,000 sqm.

Czech developer UDI Group has purchased a 2 ha plot in Budapest and unveiled its plans to enter the Hungarian market.

During Q2 2019, gross take-up on the Czech industrial market, which includes renegotiations, reached 380,500 sqm showing an increase of 21% over the Q2 2018. The Industrial Research Forum announced the final industrial market figures for Q2 2019.

Gross take-up on Prague’s office market in Q2 2019 amounted to 100,600 sqm, representing a 9% decrease on the previous quarter The Prague Research Forum announced the office market figures for the second quarter of 2019.

The information on investment transactions in the Czech real estate sector for H1 2019, collected by Cushman & Wakefield, indicates a significant increase in volume. The figure achieved – €1.743 billion – shows that the decrease in 2018 was just a sway and not a real trend. The real estate market is expected to thrive in the latter half as well and its total performance could exceed €3 billion.

Local investment fund Trigea has acquired the Louvre office building in Prague 5. The property has around 4,600 sqm of leasable space with tenants including Swiss rail carriage manufacturer Stadler, Lukoil Accounting and Finance Europe and health insurance company VZP.