Real estate market players in Romania could face new challenges if the current inflation pressures spill into the next years, said executives during an expert panel discussion that marked the launch of Property Forum’s first annual “The 50 Most Influential People on Romania’s Real Estate Market” publication.

According to the new forecast presented by WIFO, the Austrian partner of the Euroconstruct network, construction in the Euroconstruct area is set to register a 3.8% growth this year. Yet, Hungary still awaits negative growth rates this year, although the drop in 2021 is foreseen to be lower than last year.

According to Colliers, CEE 2021 year-end investment volumes are likely to reach similar levels to 2020. CEE economies are expected  to accelerate  throughout 2021 and 2022, at an average pace of ca. 4.3% annually

An increase in European Union funding available to Central and Eastern European governments will boost GDP growth, suppress debt burdens and improve debt affordability, although implementation challenges will hinder gains in some countries, Moody's Investors Service said in a new report.

The volume of Hungary’s construction output in February decreased by 11.7% compared to the January data, based on seasonally and working-day adjusted indices construction output. Aside from the unpleasant surprise of lower output, the volume of orders was also not very rosy. Nevertheless, it would be too early to give up on this year's outlook.

In the fourth quarter of 2020, seasonally adjusted GDP decreased by 0.6% in the euro area and by 0.4% in the EU, compared with the previous quarter, according to a flash estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. These declines follow a strong rebound in the third quarter of 2020 (+12.4% in the euro area and +11.5% in the EU) and the sharpest decreases since the time series started in 1995 observed in the second quarter of 2020 (-11.7% in the euro area and -11.4% in the EU). According to the first estimation of annual growth for 2020, based on seasonally and calendar adjusted quarterly data, GDP fell by 6.8% in the euro area and 6.4% in the EU.

The stable 2021 outlook for sovereigns in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) reflects their robust economic growth prospects and strengthened ability to carry and reduce debt, which make their credit profiles resilient to the sharp deterioration of their public finances in 2020, Moody's Investors Service said in a report published today. Ageing populations and structural economic change will remain longer-term challenges for the region.

The geopolitical diversity of the EMEA region means that there are multiple economic and business permutations to consider in light of a new first term for President Biden and the Democratic party. There is a strong likelihood that the EU and national EEA (European Economic Area) governments will cooperate more openly with the United States under President Biden. Outside of the EEA, in Middle East, Africa, Russia and Turkey ongoing relationships will be more mixed.

Manufacturing PMIs in CEE showed that the recovery slowed at the end of Q3 2020 and the carryover to Q4 2020 was small (and even negative in some cases). This assessment pertains also to the outlook, with new orders and output expectations either rising less or showing a slower recovery in September than in the previous months, according to Dan Bucsa, Chief CEE Economist at UniCredit Bank in London.

Employers may not unilaterally order employees to work from home even in case of a strong resurgence of coronavirus infections and this would require a mutual agreement under new remote work rules that can now be considered final. Home officing would also be supported by a lump sum payment of overhead costs to the tune of HUF 16,100 (around €45) per month, tax-free. There are, however, still question marks regarding health and safety issues, local daily Magyar Nemzet reports.