The most prominent investors of the SEE region shared their projections for the upcoming year at the international investment panel at SEE Property Forum 2019, moderated by Tim Wilkinson, Partner at Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Globalworth announced that Aroundtown SA has acquired an 11.8% stake in the Company. Aroundtown is a real estate company with a focus on properties with value-add potential in central locations in top tier cities primarily in Germany and the Netherlands. With a commercial real estate portfolio worth more than €13 billion, Aroundtown is the largest and highest rated (BBB+ by S&P) commercial real estate company in Germany and the 4th largest in Europe (based on market cap of €8.6 billion).

Expect retail to regain popularity as an asset class especially in tourism-led locations, Colliers International said at MIPIM 2019. Whilst logistics has benefited from the growth in e-retailing, there are signs that is has hit maximum penetration across Europe. In the meantime, pure-play retailers are resorting to omni-channel strategies to survive and deliver profits. This has put the onus back on the need for retail space supported by modern logistic facilities.

Cushman & Wakefield assisted Generali Real Estate in the acquisition of Palác Špork, a unique scheme in Prague 1. The seller is SEBRE, a.s. The price remains undisclosed. The agreement was signed on 11 March.

Money from East Asia burst on to the CEE scene in 2016-17, mainly via large industrial sector portfolio deals. The industrial sector received the majority of 2018’s flow as well, though diversification via larger single asset deals is beginning to occur. Asian investors appear to need liquidity: looking by CEE-6 destination, Poland presently dominates.

There is a growing global war chest of capital for real estate, with institutional investors looking to increase their real estate allocations and new sources of capital emerging, according to Colliers International’s latest report. Increasing allocations to real estate from global institutions reached at least $840 billion in 2018, adding to the $370 billion in closed-end funds waiting to be deployed to real estate in 2019.

Real estate transaction volumes in 2018 were the strongest on record reaching US$1.75 trillion; a 4% year-on-year (y/y) growth and surpassing previous highs of US$1.68 trillion in 2017, according to new data from global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.

The local real estate market has begun to attract the attention of major Asian investors, as groups from China and South Korea are exploring the potential to invest directly in the primary commercial markets. It is feasible that the first transaction could occur by the end of this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox consultants.

Piotr Krawczyński joined the BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland team as Head of Capital Markets CEE. He will be responsible, among others, for acquiring new accounts and coordinating sale/purchase transactions in Central and Eastern Europe. His duties will include advisory in the field of financing real estate investment projects.

Euro Styl S.A. - a Tri-City developer specializing in residential projects and part of the Dom Development S.A. Capital Group - has acquired an investment land parcel located in the Młode Miasto area of Gdańsk, from Atrium European Real Estate Ltd. The vendor was represented by experts from JLL international advisory firm.