The beginning of Q1 2022 has brought record numbers. €898 million was invested into Czech real estate assets in Q1 2022, demonstrating a 210% year-on-year increase. Without the c. €1.3 billion Residomo transaction which was closed in Q1 2020, this quarter's investment volume would be the highest since Q1 2019, Savills' latest research shows.

Zoltán Fekete and Ariel Ferstman, the CEO and CFO of Globe Trade Centre, have talked to Property Forum about GTC`s financial results in 2021, shaking off the last COVID-related restrictions and biggest challenges for the commercial property market in 2022.

Barely has the pandemic subsided, the investment market is already facing new challenges due to the war in Ukraine. The end of the first quarter of the year was partly influenced by the new geopolitical situation when the whole real estate market held a breath. Despite new circumstances, ongoing transactions are closing, which is reflected in Q1 2022 investment market results. Furthermore, regional investors from Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia are keeping their interest in real assets located in Poland.

Penta Real Estate has sold three real estate projects in Bratislava. The buyer is former Penta co-owner Jozef Oravkin, who left the group at the end of 2021 to set up his development and investment company, Penta announced in a press release.

The Central & Eastern European real estate market has registered an investment volume of €2.8 billion in Q1 2022, up 44% year-on-year. By volume, the lion’s share of the deals was realised in Poland (59%) and the Czech Republic (32%). Cushman & Wakefield has summed up the investment market in the CEE region.

Passerinvest Group a.s. has entered into an off-market agreement with the investor Simona Otavova for the purchase of the building housing the general headquarters of the state-funded organization Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic (Ředitelství silnic a dálnic ČR – ŘSD). The value of the transaction was not disclosed. The change of ownership was announced today by Passerinvest.

According to the land registry, Microsoft has acquired a large seven-hectare plot of land in Prague's Klíčov district from CPI Property Group. The price of the transaction is CZK 1.5 billion, according to the purchase contract filed with the land registry, reports Seznamzpravy.cz.

Bratislava's iconic Pradiareň 1900 building is now wholly owned by investment group RSJ, which has bought the entire stake of the other co-owner YIT Slovakia. The total value of the transaction is approximately €35 million. RSJ announced the change in ownership structure on its website.

Heimstaden subsidiary Heimstaden Bostad AB is buying the 400-apartment residential project Aurora in Warsaw from development company Dantex. The transaction is structured as a turnkey forward funded acquisition, where Heimstaden Bostad does not carry any direct development risk. Completion is scheduled for mid-2024.

Leading tax advisor Petr Karpeles, Partner at TPA Czech Republic, sees new market players entering the Czech market, in addition to a strong appetite from existing investors for new products. He shared his observations with Property Forum related to the current investment market sentiment based on consultations with clients.