The first half of 2017 saw the Czech Republic overtake Poland as the most popular investment destination within CEE. Based on the current pipeline of deals Poland might retake its position rather soon, nevertheless, the combination of growth, yields and stability make Czech Republic and other countries in the CEE region highly attractive to international and domestic investors. Luke Dawson, Managing Director & Head of Capital Markets CEE at Colliers International shared his expectations with Property Forum.

Israeli-held Elbit Imaging announced that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with an international investment fund to sell its entire shareholding in a company owning the Radisson Complex in Bucharest, based on a property value of approximately €177.5 million.

The Czech Republic has become the top performer of the Central European region in terms of the volume of investment that has flowed into commercial real estate since the beginning of 2017. Unlike the preceding years when Poland was the clear number one, the largest amount has been invested in the Czech Republic, even though the country’s market is roughly one half the size of its larger neighbour’s market. 

JLL‘s Slovak Capital Markets team has successfully closed the sale process of the Quadro office building in Bratislava, Slovakia. JLL team acted on behalf of CEE Property Development Portfolio 2, a.s., (CPDP2) a real estate investment and asset management company, part of the Česká spořitelna Financial Group. The Quadro building was acquired by Slovakia-based property company backed by Israeli and US capital. The value of the transaction remains confidential. 

Real estate activity during the first half of 2017 was very dynamic in Bucharest as well as throughout Romania. New deliveries, extensions and transactions have led to considerable growth in the main sectors – industrial, retail, office and investment. According to Colliers International, the upward trend will continue for the remainder of the year and will be doubled by new demands.

The Slovak investment volume reached only €154 million in H1 2017. A number of transactions, across all sectors currently in various stages of the transaction process are estimated to be worth ca. €350 million and should fall into H2 2017, JLL reports.

Prague-based Star Capital Investments has become the new owner of the Futurum Ostrava and OC Haná shopping centres in the Czech Republic. CBRE participated in these transactions, representing the foreign sellers. CBRE also manages the building and leasing activities for Futurum Ostrava.

The volume of hotel transactions achieved in the first half of 2017 was more than €700 million with 34 transactions recorded in core CEE markets. In comparison, 2016 achieved just over €630 million with 20 transactions in the same period, which means an 11% yearly increase. To compare, the western markets experienced just 0.3%. Cushman & Wakefield predicts the year 2017 to outperform the strong results of 2016.

Real estate investment flows into the Central & Eastern European region rose 17% year-on-year in the first half of 2017 to €5.4 billion, putting 2016’s cycle high of €12.2 billion well in 2017’s range, according to Colliers International’s latest report.

Hines has sold the Proximo I office building from the portfolio of the Hines Russia & Poland Fund to the CSNF fund, which is managed by Czech investor REICO IS ČS, for €116.6 million.