Central European commercial property markets are expected to attract even more investors than last year and the competition among countries is fiercer than ever. What does it take to change lost lasting perceptions and secure interest from international buyers? Andy Thompson MRICS, Director of Investment Services at Colliers International talked to us in Bratislava about recent developments on the Czech and Slovakian markets.

The sharp rebound of the Hungarian real estate investment market witnessed in H2 2015 has gained further momentum during the first half of this year. According to JLL the transaction volume of the first semester reached more than EUR 910 million, already more than during the full 2015 year, highlighting the increasing weight of capital targeting Hungarian assets.

GTC has announced the acquisition of Neptun Office Center and Sterlinga Business Center, located in Gdańsk and Łódź respectively. These two Class A office buildings, featuring modern design and a total GLA of 30,000 sqm and 364 parking places, will enrich the Group’s Polish investment portfolio.

CTP has recently signed an agreement to purchase two logistics sites with a combined floor space of 66,000 square meters from Raiffeisen Group member DAV Property Kft. The new properties acquired using a loan from Raiffeisen Bank Zrt. have increased the total floor space of CTP’s warehouse facilities in Üllő to 100,000 square meters and that of its total Hungarian industrial property portfolio to 135,000 square meters. 

Last Thursday the United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union which has triggered panic on financial markets. Players of the property market are also in shock all over Europe, eager to find out what Brexit means for the future of their investments. 

Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate GmbH (Warburg-HIH Invest) has finalised the Sales & Purchase Agreement for the office property Prime Corporate Center in the city centre of Warsaw. The transaction, which took the form of an asset deal, was carried out as a club deal for four separate accounts of German institutional investors. The property has been sold by the Warsaw-based developer Golub GetHouse. The buyer was represented in this transaction by Cushman & Wakefield.

New Europe Property Investments (NEPI) has closed several transactions in Southeastern Europe. The Group has concluded an agreement to acquire a shopping centre in Sibiu, Romania, a minority interest in Mega Mall Bucharest, Romania and a land plot in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Last year has proven to be a turning point for the Romanian investment market. An increased number and more diverse group of investors started looking at individual assets and portfolios, resulting in the largest number of transactions since the beginning of the crisis. Will this upward trend continue into 2016 and 2017? We report from SEE Property Forum 2016, a conference co-organised by Portfolio Conferences and RICS, where the biggest players of the Romanian investment market came together to talk about the future. 

Invesco Real Estate (IRE) has announced the sale of Zaulek Piekna office building on behalf of one of its separate account clients in Germany to GLL Real Estate Partners GmbH.

Diófa Fund Management has announced the purchase of Europark shopping centre in Budapest from Unibail Rodamco. The acquisition is a result of a one year long and constructive cooperation between the parties and was entirely funded by own capital. Due to new investment fund restrictions it is highly possible that this was the first and last shared deal on the market.