The first-ever euro-based share issuance on the Budapest Stock Exchange has successfully been concluded. Through an initial public offering (IPO), Shopper Park Plus raised a total of €37.2 million in capital, placing its shares into the BSE Premium Category. The company manages a significant retail real estate portfolio in the region, comprising 18 units. It aims to become the owner and operator of the biggest shopping park in the region in the medium term, and going public could do a lot to help it achieve this goal.

Chinese developer and investor group Xanga has been progressing with its new hotel project in Debrecen reaching the highest point of the building. Ibis Styles Debrecen Airport will offer 73 rooms and 20 suits and is expected to open in the second half of 2025.

The Hungarian subsidiary of Transdanubia, a leading international logistics provider has secured 24,000 sqm of industrial space in the PT3 building of the Hellopark Páty mega park, developed by Futureal Group subsidiary HelloParks. The new tenant is expected to move in at the end of 2024.

Over the past decade, Hungarian real estate investors have successfully expanded outside of their home market. Firms such as Wing, Futureal, Adventum, Indotek and others have become major players in many European countries, mainly Poland and Romania. They managed to expand via acquisitions of both companies and projects. Part of their funds came from bond issues in Hungary within the Bond Funding for Growth Scheme of the National Bank of Hungary. We have prepared a timeline of the notable transactions and an overview of the market’s key players to provide a better understanding of this trend.

Indotek Group has announced the strategic acquisition of Galleria Porta Siena on LinkedIn. Galleria Porta Siena, a prime commercial property located in the heart of Siena, joins the group's growing portfolio of Italian retail assets.

Half of the hotel investors in CEE already address ESG in their transaction due diligence, and 40% are in the process of including it, says Cushman & Wakefield in their newest report.

Hungary's office market has slowed down, tenants are more cautious. Sadly, it often results in drawn-out decision-making as tenants focus on safe solutions, fearing the unpredictability of the future. In consequence, there are more renewals and fewer relocations. However, demand for experienced advisors providing high-added value is ever-growing, as the alternative – rectifying a poor lease contract after it is signed – is difficult and expensive, says Valter Kalaus, Managing Partner of Newmark VLK Hungary.

Just a few months after the handover of the first 21,000 sqm speculative industrial and logistics hall of IGPark Kecskemét South, Infogroup started the construction of a new building. The new hall is scheduled to be handed over in q4 2024.

Negotiations with Indotek Group have resulted in the sale of 100% of the Hungarian activities of Nhood Services and Ceetrus Hungary to the Hungarian investment group, Nhood Hungary announced. It also confirmed that with this transaction Indotek has acquired a 47% stake in Auchan's Hungarian retail operations. Auchan has an extensive Hungarian network of 19 hypermarkets, 5 supermarkets, and 18 petrol stations.

In Q3 2023, the Greater Budapest speculative stock increased by 140,730 sqm, adding five buildings to the stock. Five new buildings were also handed over in regional cities adding another 92,610 sqm to the stock there. The vacancy rate at the end of Q3 2023 was 10.0% in Greater Budapest, an increase of 140 basis points quarter-on-quarter and an increase of 510 basis points year-on-year, the Budapest Research Forum (BRF) reports.